St Johnstone defender Danny Grainger has been a good luck charm when it comes to reaching cup finals, but the problem is he doesn’t actually get to play in them.
The full-back is hoping that Saints will be his third club to make it to Hampden, and that this time he can get his boots on.
That’s the incentive for Grainger when he lines up against Partick Thistle at McDiarmid Park this afternoon, should the pitch pass a 10am pitch inspection, as the teams battle it out for a place in the last eight.
He said, “The first one I missed was with Gretna when they played Hearts in the Scottish Cup because I was cup-tied after being on loan at Brechin.
“Then, when I was with Dundee United we got to the CIS Cup final and I was cup-tied for that one as well because I’d played in the earlier rounds for Gretna.”
He added, “I don’t seem to be doing too well when it comes to cup finals but hopefully it will be third time lucky with Saints this season.”
Grainger will return to the starting line-up today after a two-match ban batteries recharged, he’s itching to get back into the fray.
He said, “The manager was good enough to give me last weekend off so that gave me the chance to go down south and see my family.
“I watched most of the Hearts game on BBC Alba. It looked as if it was just one of those days for the boys. But we were back to form against Hamilton in midweek. It was a lot more like us.
“It was great to see Stevie May show everybody what he’s capable of. There’s no reason why he can’t keep doing that. Him and Sammy (Collin Samuel) are striking up a good partnership.”No room for complacencyPartick’s recent improvement has not gone unnoticed at McDiarmid and Grainger insisted that Ian McCall’s men will get the same respect as Hearts in the previous round.
He said, “Both teams are in good form and will think this is a winnable tie. We can’t afford to be complacent at all. If we are it will end in disaster.
“That’s the last thing we want after all the hard work we put in to get past Hearts in the last round.”
He added, “Any team in the country would be happy with our form at the moment but I actually think there is more to come from us, which is positive.”
The Carlisle-born defender is out of contract in the summer and has an open mind about where he will play next season.
He said, “It’s part and parcel of football these days that contracts run out. I’ll get my head down and keep playing to the best of my ability for the rest of the season and whatever happens in the summer will happen.
“I’m very happy here and I think I’m playing as well as I have for a while. Everybody has their ambitions and obviously playing in England is very appealing.
“But I’m not in a rush and if St Johnstone offer me a new deal I’ll have to give it real consideration.”‘Fresh and ready’Manager Derek McInnes gave most of his squad Wednesday and Thursday off, so he hopes there will be no sign of fatigue from a recent busy programme.
He said, “We’ll be fresh and ready. We’ve had three wins and a draw in our last four home games which gives us confidence.
“But we know they’re doing really well at the moment and we can remember that as a first division club we used to love the challenge of beating an SPL side.
“Ian McCall will believe they can win and he will put that belief into his players. Anything less than how we played against Hamilton in midweek will put the game at risk.”
Hearts loan signing Arvydas Novikovas is cup-tied, while Liam Craig is a doubt with a calf strain.
The Jags are without two of their most experienced players defender Jackie McNamara and former Saint Simon Donnelly, who are both injured.
Saints are confident the game will go ahead despite the precautionary pitch inspection.