Simon Lappin will fulfil a career ambition in the heat of the Armenian capital city this evening when he plays his first game in European competition.
But only if St Johnstone get a positive result against Alashkert FC in their Europa League first qualifying round first leg will the midfielder be able to say that the experience was everything he had hoped for.
“It’s great to finally get a chance of playing in Europe,” the former Norwich City man admitted. “It’s been a long time coming.
“I actually qualified for Europe when I was with Motherwell but I went back to Norwich that summer so I didn’t get to play.
“Things worked out well for me when I went back there so it wasn’t too hard watching the lads playing in Europe.
“But it was always something I wanted to do. It has been an ambition of mine for a while.
“I’ve had to wait until I’m 32 to get there but I want to get as much as I can out of the opportunity.
“It goes without saying I want my European debut to be a winning one.
“But we have to remember the game is over two legs, so given the conditions across there the plan will be to get through on the back of 180 minutes.”
Saints have touched down in new territory for a Scottish football club, and it’s the start of a new season. But it will be old habits that Lappin believes will serve them well in the Armenian national stadium.
“Although it’s European football nothing much changes,” he pointed out. “We are approaching it like we would any other game.
“Obviously the travelling and the fact that we don’t know everything about them makes things a bit different.
“But in terms of our attitude and how we go about our business, nothing changes for us.
“We got in through the Scottish Cup final but we did it on merit because of finishing fourth in the league.
“We put ourselves in the position that if things went our way at Hampden we got in so we’re determined to make the most of it.
“We will focus on ourselves, playing to our strengths and doing the positive things that got us into the competition in the first place.”
A flight that took over six hours and punishing heat that will be nearer 40 degrees than 30 is taking Saints out of their comfort zone, but Lappin reinforced the glass half-full mindset that the Perth squad has had since the first round draw was made in Nyon.
He explained: “Logistically for the fans it has been tough because I’m sure there are plenty of people who wanted to come over but couldn’t make it.
“But from our point of view as a team it doesn’t matter.
“We’re here to do a job so it doesn’t really bother us where the game is.
“Yerevan is a really nice place, the city is lovely and it’s great to get an experience like this.
“The heat here is incredible. It’s still about 30 degrees late at night.
“So that will be a factor but the manager has us well prepared and we’ll be doing everything we can to combat it.”
Saints trained at the stadium yesterday evening and have completed their homework on their opponents.
But Lappin believes the team is capable of thinking on its feet to react to the test Alashkert pose them.
“I have watched the footage the club gave us,” he said. “It has been hard to gauge what they’ll be like because they have added a lot of new players over the summer.
“So it might be a case of sussing them out in the early stages of the game before figuring out what works and what doesn’t.
“But we’re not going to go into it too focused on them because when you do that your own game tends to suffer.
“So while we’ll obviously give them plenty of respect, we’ll focus on the things we do well.
“We’ve had a good pre-season, the lads are looking sharp and we’re just eager to get on with things.
“The club has been in Europe four years in a row, which is an incredible run for a team the size of St Johnstone.
“It’s something the club is proud of and the lads have picked up some great results along the way.
“The team is unbeaten away from home under the gaffer and that’s something we really want to continue.
“In Europe if you can go away from home and get a result then you give yourself a real chance, so getting something to come back to McDiarmid Park with is the aim this week.”