‘Change of scenery’ suits Ross in bid to bridge 104-year gap

Jack Ross insists St Mirren want to show they are a Premiership team in waiting by landing a crushing blow to Aberdeen’s hopes for the season by knocking them out of the William Hill Scottish Cup.

Saints head to Pittodrie for tomorrow’s lunchtime clash eight points clear in the Ladbrokes Championship after a terrific run of six wins and a draw. However, they haven’t won in the cup there for 104 years and Ross knows it is a prize Derek Mcinnes dearly wants to claim.

St Mirren manager Ross said: “We want to show people why we’re having the season we are.

“It’s a good draw for us. You want a tie that excites you and this provides us with a break from the league.

“We’ve had a demanding schedule through December and this month but we’ve come through those tough games with a good points total.

“It’s good to have a change of scenery. At this stage of the league season we’ve already played everybody twice or three times, which gets a bit repetitive. Saturday, though, is a new challenge against different players. The biggest thing for me is that we do ourselves justice and play well.”

The Dons lost both domestic finals to Celtic last season so Ross is under no illusion of the task his side faces.

He said: “I think winning the cup is a fair ambition for Derek. They’ve come very close to doing that and just been unfortunate that they’ve come up against an incredibly powerful Celtic team.

“That ambition makes our job even tougher. Aberdeen don’t just want to do well in this competition, they expect to do well in it.”