St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright insisted his side should fear no-one in today’s League Cup semi-final draw following their eventual safe passage to the competition’s last four.
Morton’s success over Celtic in the last round meant Wednesday night’s quarter-final was always going to throw up the prospect of another giant-killing, but a controversial stoppage time goal from Gary McDonald was enough to see Saints progress.
The Perth club can now look forward to their first League Cup semi-final since 2010, and whether it be Inverness, Aberdeen or Hearts in the next round, Wright believes his side are more than capable of reaching a national final.
“Getting through is the main thing but we could have made it easier for ourselves,” Wright said. “We could have played better and we could have passed it better, but we’re in a semi-final draw which we can all look forward to.
“Maybe after tonight people think our name’s on it because we’ve had a bit of fortune, who knows?”
Wright added: “We’ll recover, we’ve got a lot of league games before the semi-final and we’ll see who we get, but it will be a big day whatever happens.
“I’m really pleased for the club and the supporters that they’ve got a semi-final to look forward to.
“There weren’t a lot of chances in the game and we thought Morton played extremely well first half.
“We just couldn’t get going and couldn’t pass it as well as we can do, and a few of us looked a bit heavy legged. But the second half we were better and created a lot.”
Saints’ goal sparked controversy as it stemmed from a free-kick which referee John McKendrick ordered to be re-taken.
Morton’s players, fans and staff were visibly angry, but Wright reckoned the re-take was the correct decision.
“With Stevie May standing over a free-kick anything can happen and he made it difficult for the goalkeeper because there seemed to be a lot of movement on the ball,” he added.
“We had Gary McDonald and another player showing a bit of desire to get on the follow-up.
“The officials have a difficult job to do but I thought he (the referee) handled the game well.
“But if the player is too close when the free-kick is taken then what else is the referee supposed to do?”
Wright lost defender Frazer Wright during the tie, and the Saints boss confirmed that he is likely to need an x-ray on an injury to his right shin.
Today’s semi-final draw will be made at Hampden at 3pm.
For further coverage of last night’s match, see Thursday’s Courier or try our digital edition.