SAINTS HOME IN ON CUP RUN McDiarmid Park gaffer delighted with fourth round draw
St Johnstone’s quest for more Scottish Cup glory will begin at McDiarmid Park this season.
And manager Tommy Wright was a relieved man when the Perth club avoided another early competition tussle with holders Celtic.
The fourth round draw took place on Sunday and Saints will welcome the winner of Greenock Morton and Highland League side Brora Rangers.
They battled to a surprise 1-1 draw at Cappielow over the weekend with the replay now penned in for next week.
Regardless of who pitches up in Perth after the winter break Wright, while happy with the draw, realises it will not be easy to progress.
“When I was watching the draw I was thinking Rangers and Celtic are still in and we are running out of ties,” the Northern Irishman said yesterday.
“We got Celtic early last year. I thought it was a case of here we go again.
“It’s good we have got a home draw and definitely a team from outwith the Premier League.
“We’ll obviously have to wait and see how the replay goes. I believe Brora did really well.
“But if it is Morton Chris Millar will be coming back. He and our fans would look forward to that.
“It’s a good draw. But it will be a tough game whoever we face because it will be our first after the winter break.
“Sometimes that can hamper the bigger clubs who have to hit the ground running. We will have a lot of games crammed into a short space of time.
“Ideally you’d want a league game before going into a cup tie but it is the same for all the Premier clubs.”
Perth boss Wright has been reflecting on Sunday’s actionpacked 1-1 draw with Aberdeen at McDiarmid Park.
He watched his side go down to nine men in the closing stages when Murray Davidson and Callum Hendry were ordered off in quick succession.
But a battling display and a fine goalkeeping performance from Zander Clark resulted in a share of the spoils, much to the delight of home fans.
Saints remain bottom of the Premiership on goal difference but Wright was quick to praise the hard-working performance from his squad.
Wright said: “That’s us taken seven points from our last four games so we have to be happy with that.
“We need to build on it at the weekend against Motherwell.
“I was delighted for the players that they held out for a point against Aberdeen.
“They are third in the table and have been scoring plenty goals on their travels.
“We did a good job defensively, particularly late on when we were down to nine men. But I am still looking for improvement.
“There was a feeling of relief in the dressing room that we had managed to take something out of the game after all our efforts.
“We were outnumbered and all you can do is try and survive in those circumstances.
“It would have been heartbreaking for the players if they hadn’t got a point after all they put into the game.” glad we took something from it.
“It will be a massive boost for our confidence as a team and especially the back four.
“We have been disappointed with the way we have defended in weeks gone by. But we could watch this one back and take a lot of pleasure from it.
“We have to continue that spirit of everyone fighting for one another.”
Clark’s flurry of saves near the end denied Michael Devlin, Sam Cosgrove, Andrew Considine and Lewis Ferguson.
The latter was a particular favourite and he said: “The save from Ferguson was probably the best.
“It came through a bunch of players and luckily enough I got a hand on it and got it out because one of their players was running in.
“There was wave after wave of attack from Aberdeen and we knew we just had to soak it up.
“As soon as you cleared it you knew it was going to come straight back and you had to do the same again.”
Turn inside for the full report and reaction.