McDiarmid rallying call
David Wotherspoon knows what it’s like to watch European football from the stands.
The St Johnstone midfielder grew up supporting the club and in his younger years proudly took his seat at McDiarmid Park to cheer on his idols.
Now he hopes the people of Perth and beyond can crank up the volume on Thursday evening and help inspire home players to victory against Lithuanians FK Trakai.
“It’s a completely different night playing in Europe,” Wotherspoon told the Perthshire Advertiser. “The atmosphere is brilliant and the fans turn out in great numbers, just like they did for our cup runs. When they do that it makes a difference to the team.
“I’m hoping we can put on a good show on Thursday, get through the tie, and then hopefully more people will start coming more often.
“It’s special for me because I know a lot of people in the crowd who I have grown up with or just from being from Perth.
“I grew up going to European games at Saints myself so know what it’s like. It’s great to now be living the dream.
“We’ve got clips of Trakai which the boys are able to watch. We’ve had a look at them to get a gist of what they are like and how they play.
“You see people putting up their recent results and stats in Europe. But it all doesn’t really mean anything. All that matters is what happens on the night and all of the players are looking forward to it.
“You can’t expect to go to these games and win comfortably. You need to expect a tough game which it will be.
“The first leg is always a big game to determine how the tie goes. Normally we have been playing away first so this will be different.”
Perth players have been sharpening up across the past couple of weeks and recorded friendly wins against Welsh teams The New Saints and Connah’s Quay Nomads, as well as a draw with Rangers.
There was a blow for manager Tommy Wright when defender Steven Anderson picked up a knee injury, which is expected to rule the captain out for a month.
But Wotherspoon believes any of the younger members of the squad are more than ready to make the step up.
He said: “These games are what you expect from friendlies. They are good games to play in against decent opposition. We’re feeling confident but need to make sure that we’re ready to go. The boys haven’t lost any fitness and everyone is sharp.
“The younger guys haven’t looked out of place at all. Even last season when they trained they did really well.
“Ally Gilchrist hasn’t played a lot in the last couple of years due to injury which is unfortunate. But he has come back flying and looks very strong and confident.
“Jason Kerr and Liam Gordon have been out on loan so we’ve definitely got bodies in numbers that we can call upon.
“We picked up injuries out in Alashkert so it was a little all over the shop. We’re hoping this time round it’s not too bad and we have as much as a full strength squad as possible.
“It’s unfortunate for Steven Anderson and the timing is bad. He is gutted but obviously wants the boys to do well. Hopefully he can be back for one of the other games.”