That his St Johnstone team will face a highly-motivated Aberdeen at McDiarmid Park tonight is a given for Callum Davidson.
But even though the Perth boss knows the under-fire Dons squad will be pumped up as they emerge from their mini-shutdown, he won’t be side-tracked by trying to work out Derek McInnes’ team selection or fearing the effects of their ‘siege mentality’.
For Davidson, never has the football mantra about controlling the controllables been more applicable.
“I have no idea how many (of the coronavirus six who are available) will be back,” he said. “That will be down to Derek and his thinking whether they play or not and the fitness levels of them all.
“It’ll be a second guess for me so all I can do really is concentrate on my team.
“I need to set my team up the way I want to and make sure they perform to their highest levels.
“Any time I played under Derek he always got you fired up no matter the situation. It will be no different on Thursday night. If some of them play who were out, they will be desperate to prove a point to repay the faith that Derek has shown in them.
“Likewise, the ones that get a chance will be desperate to stay in the team.
“It’s a hard one but we’ll look more towards how Derek’s team plays. I know what type of team he’ll play and the type of energy they will play with regardless of whether they haven’t had a game recently or not.
“Aberdeen have been excellent for the last seven years under Derek and we know they will be high tempo and have quality so we must make sure we match all that first and foremost.”
Davidson, who could have a couple of his injured players back in his squad, can be satisfied with a return of four points from three tough away fixtures and equally pleased with the general form curve.
“I’ve been quite happy with performances apart from a 20-minute spell against Kilmarnock,” he said. “The majority of the time I have been quite pleased with the players.
“To get that win is a momentum-builder. I’d be gutted if I was on the other side but I’m delighted that we managed to pick up the victory. It was a big one. I always think the first win is really important in the season.
“The effort they have put in over the first seven or eight weeks has been brilliant. Hopefully we can continue that.”
It’s been a long wait for Davidson’s first home match as St Johnstone manager.
“That will be good,” he said. “That’s us got three games now at home. I’m looking forward to it. It will be good to get the lads back on the pitch. It seems a long time since they played there. The St Mirren friendly got cancelled as well.”
The all-consuming nature of being a number one is the biggest change from his previous coaching roles, even if some of the off-field issues that havw confronted Davidson were beyond anyone’s prediction.
“There is a lot more to deal with rather than just the football side,” he said of his first couple of months in the job.
“With Covid issues, it’s a different sort of challenge.
“As assistant manager, you can really concentrate on tactics and training. Whereas in this position, there is a broader scope.
“You’ve got to look out for other people as well. I’ve enjoyed it. It’s keeping me busy anyway. My golf is suffering, though. I’m not too happy about that!”
