St Mirren welcome Queen of the South to Paisley for tonight's Scottish Cup replay and Paul McGowan would be willing to trade a place in the Scottish Premiership's top six for another day out at Hampden. The Buddies midfielder helped the Paisley side lift the League Cup last season. However, Danny Lennon's side failed to build on March's 3-2 win over Hearts - the club's first major trophy win in 26 years - as they dropped to a 11th-place league finish. Now with Queens barring their way of another extended cup run, McGowan admits he would sacrifice his Premiership ambitions if it guaranteed them another final appearance.Ahead of tonight's fourth-round replay in Paisley, McGowan said : "It was so important for the club that we held on and got the replay. We want to go on another cup run. We got a taste of it last season when we won the League Cup and we saw what it did for the town and the fans, so hopefully we can do it again. We saw in the build-up to the final against Hearts last season how excited everyone got. We visited all the schools and met the wee kids and it was incredible. It was an experience that I will never forget. But we know how tough it was to make it that far and how tough it will be to do it again. If we can get past Queens, then we have another tough one away to Dundee United, who are the form team in the league right now. But what we achieved last season just makes you hungry for more success. Tasting that, even just for the day itself, was incredible. Even though we didn't finish where we did in the league, I would not have changed anything from last season. I'd take a cup run any day of the week over finishing higher up in the league. I'm not sure the manager would agree but for me that's how special these competitions are."The Doonhamers held Saints to a 2-2 draw on their plastic Palmerston pitch last month to book a replay. It was the third time the sides have met since the summer following a pre-season friendly and August's League Cup tie, with the Premiership side yet to beat Jim McIntyre's Championship outfit. And McGowan expects another tough test when they meet again tonight. He said: "We know how hard it will be. They have beaten us twice this year, including when they put us out of the League Cup. We are getting them back to ours for the first time though and it is back on grass, which should help us. But they have good players who can hurt us, so we won't take them lightly. If you look through their team, they have guys who have played in the Premier League and are a great side. They are good on the counter and have pace. We need to try and stop them doing what they are good at."
Source: ScottishFitba
Source: FOOTYMAD
