St Johnstone manager Derek McInnes believes the Perth side and Motherwell have now got virtually a 50-50 chance of making it to the Scottish Cup final.
In the wake of the Fir Park club’s comprehensive defeat of holders Dundee United on Tuesday night in their quarter-final replay, Motherwell boss Stuart McCall declared there wouldn’t be a favourite between them and Saints on April 16.
Former Rangers team-mate McInnes is of a similar view.
He said, “Motherwell were excellent against United and they thoroughly deserved their win. Now we know who we’ll be facing in the semi-final and I’m sure we’re in for a tough game.
“On the back of that performance they’ll think they’ve got a great chance of beating us, but we’ll also be quietly confident.
“There isn’t much between us in the league table and it’s got the makings of an exciting and evenly-matched contest.
“There are two weeks of football to be played before the match, though, and we want to make sure we’re going into it on the back of some good results in the league.”
Meanwhile, both Saints and Motherwell fans will believe a passage to the final is written in the stars for their team.
It’s been well documented that this year is the 20th anniversary of the Steelmen’s Scottish Cup triumph, and the fact that they have just seen off the club they took care of in 1991 has only added to their feeling of destiny.
This will be the second time Saints have faced Motherwell in a national semi-final. In 1969 they won 2-0 at Hampden en route to the League Cup final.