The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Saints ready to face club legend May at Pittodrie
Steven Maclean knows old strike partner May will be fired-up for Pittodrie clash
Stevie May will forever be a St Johnstone legend thanks to his history-making Scottish Cup heroics.
But his old strike-partner Steven Maclean knows that the Aberdeen forward will have a burning desire to shoot down his former team at Pittodrie this afternoon.
Lining up against a previous employer is a new experience for the Dons attacker, but it certainly isn’t for Maclean, who is a man of many clubs.
“Maybe it will feel a bit strange for him but I’ve played against old teams plenty of times,” said the veteran ex-aberdeen player.
“Trust me, you do get a lift. He’ll have a buzz about him.
“Nobody’s actually said that much about Mayso this week, surprisingly.
“We’ve got a lot of respect for him and I’m sure he’s got a lot of respect for us. He’ll certainly not get any stick from our fans after what he’s done.
“It’s a funny one,” he said, explaining that May wouldn’t want to be provocative, but would want to show the Saints what they’re missing. “And you don’t want the embarrassment of losing against your old team,” he added.
“He’ll know what we’re like in this dressing room and he’ll know what we’ll be doing to try to stop him from scoring.”
The battle between May and Steven Anderson will be one to keep an eye on.
“I think he (May) will just go about his business. He’ll not shirk anything, we know that, but he’s not a chirper. If it was me up against Ando we’d be chirping away at each other.
“It will be interesting to see what they’re like. Maybe if he’s on top, Ando will have a wee word.
“We’re going out to win the game but we know we have to keep a special eye on him because he’s such a good player.
“I’ve seen a couple of his goals and they have been cracking finishes. When he gets a chance, he shoots early. He still drifts out to the left side and likes to come in and shoot off his right. We’ll need to be careful of that.”
Maclean goes into the match in good form himself, after scoring one of the more bizarre goals of his career against Hamilton Accies to set up a comeback victory.
He recalled: “I couldn’t remember what I had done when I was sitting on the ground so when I saw it on TV I thought, ‘actually, I’ve done all right there!’ At the time I thought I’d just swung a leg at it.
“I was so glad to have scored because I missed a chance in the first half. You’re worrying that it might be one of those days. I had one blocked off the line before Muzz (Murray Davidson) got the winner, so it was a bit of a rollercoaster day for me.
“It was great to get the win.
“I feel really good just now.
“The manager knows what I need. Some days he’ll give me a rest and others he’ll work me harder. It’s just good management. He knows what I need just by looking at me. It isn’t about sports science or anything like that. He can tell with his eye. I know myself as well.
“I feel good, I’m getting chances and putting some away. Hopefully I can keep going.”
With Michael O’halloran sidelined last weekend, Maclean was reunited up front with Graham Cummins. It’s a partnership that suits the former
Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday striker.
He said: “I’ve been through spells when I’ve not got the goals that my play deserved.
“Listen, if you had 11 players who were the same then your team wouldn’t work.
“What Graham brings to our team is exceptional. He’s got work-rate, presence, runs the channels and drags players away from me. Maybe it goes unnoticed.
“If he was to stand in the box he’d maybe get more goals but it wouldn’t be what the team needs and we wouldn’t be where we are.
“There are other strikers in other teams who are box players, but over the years it’s been shown that if you want to do that in this team you won’t play.
“As a fellow striker I certainly appreciate the work he puts in, and I know the other boys feel the same. “The goals will come as well.” “They’ve changed their system a couple of times but we need to react to whatever they do and impose our own style on the game.
“We’ve always enjoyed going there. The games have usually had something on them. Tomorrow’s no different.”