St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright insists their league match against Aberdeen will have no bearing on their cup semi-final.
Both clubs are eagerly looking forward to their February date in the League Cup and an opportunity to reach a national final, and McDiarmid Park will play host to something of a dress rehearsal on Saturday when the pair meet in the Premiership.
However, Wright is viewing this weekend’s Premiership game in splendid isolation and reckons a win for either would not lay down a marker for February’s semi.
“Aberdeen will probably be able to go away and strengthen in the window, and then you have a different team,” he said. “They have a really good squad we know it’s going to be a difficult game this weekend but if we’re on our mettle we don’t fear anybody.
“We’ve no reason to fear Aberdeen, just as Derek McInnes will have no reason to fear us. We’ll prepare our teams and see what happens.”
Success for Saints would see them leapfrog fifth-placed Aberdeen in the table and it’s an incentive that has got the Perth players, who managed to train at Stirling University on Thursday despite the blustery weather, buzzing for the weekend.
Wright continued: “That’s the way we like it. Maybe because they are such a big club and they haven’t been in the top six for a consistent period and everybody is thinking that this is their year, it’s quite right that a bigger club will attract more attention than a smaller club.
“We just keep doing what we have to do and for us to be in and around the top six the last few seasons has been a tremendous achievement. We want to keep that going, we want to stay in the top six and we want to try to get up the table as high as possible.”
Saturday will also mark the return of ex-Saints boss Derek McInnes to McDiarmid Park, and Wright believes his opposite number will get a warm welcome from the Perth faithful.
Despite that, he does not think it will be a big factor given the changes at both clubs over the years.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for him for what he did at the club,” he said. “He’ll have fond memories of the club but that’s all they are. Once that whistle goes, he’ll be wanting to beat us and we’ll be wanting to do the same to them.”
He continued: “I think Derek’s got a good squad and they are capable of getting success but it’s different playing for Aberdeen than maybe St Johnstone.
“There’s probably more pressure playing at Aberdeen than what there is at St Johnstone.
“They’ve got a really good support and that will create a good atmosphere. I watched the first game of the season and I think they had 15,000 at the game.
“I think when they played Celtic they had 20,000 at their game, so there’s no taking away the fact that Aberdeen are a massive club and a club that are crying out for success.
“We’re obviously disappointed at some of the crowds we get but it will create a better atmosphere and I think that helps the players in their performance.”
Midfielder Murray Davidson sat out training on Tuesday due to an ankle knock but should be available.
Defender Steven Anderson has trained this week on his return from surgery to fix his dislocated thumb and should return to full training next week.
One player who will miss out on a place in the squad is Lee Croft, as the midfielder is stepping up his fitness after re-joining Saints for a second spell.
“He’s still got a way to go,” Wright said. “He played 60 minutes the other night in an under-20 game against Hearts and we’ll try and increase that next week and get him up to 90 minutes as quickly as we can.
“We don’t want him breaking down and that’s what will happen if we push him and push him.
“I’ve got to be fair to him and fair to the rest of the squad and, at the minute, he doesn’t deserve to be in the 18 because of his fitness levels but we’ll soon get him up to speed.”