Dave is delighted he stuck by his guns
WHILE St Johnstone fans were singing in celebration of their side’s shootout victory over Luzern, Dave Mackay was singing a redemption song.
Twelve months ago, he was one of three players who missed from the spot as Saints crashed out of the Europa League to Belarussian minnows FC Minsk.
This time he made up for it, smashing home the third of five perfect penalties as the Perth side progressed against superior Swiss opposition.
In doing so, Mackay believes he finally exorcised the ghost of last summer’s heartbreak.
And he insists there is now a real belief in the Saints dressing- room that they can get past Slovakian outfit Spartak Trnava in the next round.
“It’s redemption,” he admitted. “You always feel guilty if you miss a penalty and don’t go on to win a game.
“I think we missed three last year so we had to exorcise those demons.
“Last time, for some reason, I changed my mind in the run- up, which you should never do.
“This time I had it in my head what I was going to do and stuck to the plan.”
Having dominated against Minsk only to falter in the shoot- out last year, Thursday night’s clash was a mirror image, with Saints under the cosh for much of the game.
According to Mackay, that was down to the sheer quality of Luzern, but he insists that Saints have taken confidence from winning the tie.
He explained: “Last year was one of those nights where it wasn’t meant to be for us. This time we were hanging on a little bit.
“Luzernareaverygoodside, probably better than Rosenborg were last year. They’ve a big budget and some quality players, especially across the midfield.
“It’s a huge scalp for us to beat them and go through to the next round.”
A complete dearth of summer signings means the Saints are relying on the club’s young players.
Mackay has been impressed by them, but he hopes chairman Steve Brown will be persuaded to get his chequebook out to bolster the squad.
He said: “Guys like Scott Brown and Liam Caddis haven’t looked out of place at all, but I think it still looks a little bit bare.
“Europe is a good payday for the club and they’ve had plenty over the last 12 months or so with Europe, the Scottish Cup and stuff.
“So hopefully we can strengthen the team for the campaign ahead.”