Source: FOOTYMAD
Complacency Not Entertained By Perth Saints
You cannot afford to take any opposition lightly. There is no prospect of St Johnstone not taking Brechin City seriously when the sides meet tomorrow to see which one will make the Scottish Cup semi-final draw. Manager Derek McInnes has warned his players not to be complacent when they travel to Glebe Park. Understandably, the SPL side are firm favourites to see off the Second Division side managed by former McDiarmid Park defender Jim Weir. However, McInnes was at pains to stress just how seriously he and his backroom staff have taken the preparation ahead of the game to make sure that their team's attitude is correct. He said: "I can understand we are favourites because it is an SPL club versus a Second Division club. But there won't be won't be complacency from us. Our approach will be very professional. We have never been complacent and we have never come up short when we have faced lower-league sides. We have played Morton, Queen of the South and Partick Thistle in cup games this season and won 2-0, 3-0 and 2-0. We have done our work on Brechin. We will be able to pinpoint their strengths and weaknesses and every player will know who they will be facing. We have three DVDs of their games and since the draw we have had them watched six times. My assistant Tony Docherty and myself have watched them twice each in the flesh and our staff have watched them when we have been playing. We know a lot more about them now and our approach will be spot on. There is no reason that there will be any lack of motivation on our part. We have a chance of a semi-final ourselves." Lower league side have inflicted embarrassing results on SPL sides in the past. The underdid status can provide a degree of freedom to try something different than would be tried when league points are at stake. McInnes went on: "We are not arrogant enough to think we can just turn up and win. We have seen before that being the favourites counts for nothing. We went to Hearts earlier in the competition and no one gave us a chance but we won. Being underdogs can galvanise a team. The prospect of a semi-final is a great incentive for both teams. We have been to four semi-finals and each time lost to the eventual winners. So we have been close recently and we would like another opportunity to get to the final." Brechin's tight Glebe Park ground should have 'house full' signs outside tomorrow with the capacity of just under 4,000 being put under pressure. This will provide an old-fashioned cup tie atmosphere which could help the home side. Asked if the smaller pitch might give Weir's side an advantage, McInnes said: "I don't buy in to that. It's a tighter pitch but that doesn't matter. It's what is at stake that matters. Brechin are a very fit side and Jim has them very well very organised and you can see why they have a good chance of promotion. But we are going there to get the job done. We need to keep working hard and if we produce the same level of performance that we have done in the last couple of games then I will be happy." Editor Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba net)Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba net)This is Scottish-Fitba Net
