St Johnstone don’t have the surprise factor in their favour against LASK.
A draw in Turkey a fortnight ago saw to that.
But the fact that Saints are coming up against an Austrian side with impressive European pedigree in recent seasons means the scale of the task in Klagenfurt, and the scale of the potential achievement in knocking them out of the Europa Conference League, would still rank high on the David v Goliath scale.
Perth boss Callum Davidson said: “We were underdogs against Galatasaray and we are still underdogs for this game.
“You can sometimes go under the radar in Europe but after a result like we had in Istanbul, that’s not likely to happen.
“LASK have had some great results in the last few years. We have taken notice of that and I’m sure they have taken notice of our games against Galatasaray.
“They are favourites when you look at their past European results so we know we have to go there, improve and try to compete against them.
“They are a good club playing in a very good league, so we know how tough it’s going to be.
📍 Austria #SJFC pic.twitter.com/NlRQSx6YVl
— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) August 18, 2021
“But we showed in the two legs against Galatasaray we can be competitive and we have to show the same mindset.
“What we want to do is go there, try to put a stamp on the game ourselves and get back to McDiarmid Park next week with the tie alive.
“If we can get it back to Perth and get a great atmosphere there again, then you never know what can happen.”
Another cup final
Davidson, who will have to do without David Wotherspoon’s creativity for a second European match in a row, added: “LASK are a very hard-working team who are physically very fit, so we will need to match their energy levels first and foremost.
“They play a real high tempo style so we will have to be on our game and the concentration will have to be there.
“It’s going to be tough, physically and mentally, and we have to approach it properly.
“The players know what’s at stake for us. It’s like a cup final in a lot of ways because the prize of the group stages is there.
“We know if we win, we go through and if we lose we’re out. It’s that simple.
https://t.co/7UzgSfvf7H
What a game! 👇⚫️⚪️ #UECL #ASKVOJ— LASK (@LASK_Official) August 12, 2021
“When you watch video footage it’s difficult to get a proper handle on what a team are like because you don’t know the standard of the league and things like that.
“They have played more league matches than Galatasaray so it’s slightly different in that respect.
“Their team has been more settled than Galatasaray’s was so we have been able to get as much information on them as we can.”
Squad size
Davidson operated with the smallest squad in the Premiership last season and qualification for the Conference League group stage would likely require a significant expansion to negotiate the next few months.
“If we got through we’d have to have a discussion about squad size and things like that,” said Davidson.
“The chairman is well aware of that.
“For St Johnstone to get to a group stage of Europe would be an incredible achievement for the club.
“Would it be right up there with the cup double? I think it probably would.
“But we are not getting ahead of ourselves. We know we’re the underdogs and it’s going to take our best performance over 180 minutes.
“There’s no pressure on us. The pressure comes from the players wanting to succeed themselves.
“Do the players want to play in European group stages? Yes. Do I want to manage in the group stages? Yes.
“That’s where we want to be. We put pressure on ourselves to do that. There isn’t pressure from anything else.
“Look at the Scottish Cup final. We didn’t get the full squad back until two days before and look how that turned out.
“So it’s one of those that we know we are used to dealing with it.
“The odds were against us to win the double, just like the odds are against us this week.
“But this group of players have showed they are capable of doing something special.”
