St Johnstone defender Dave Mackay has insisted the Perth players shouldn’t feel any shame at being forced to go to a Scottish Cup quarter-final replay against Brechin, because there are other top flight clubs he can think of that would have succumbed to last Saturday’s Glebe Park examination.
He admitted the quality of football may not have been to their own high standards but their battling qualities were still on show.
Now Mackay wants to see the team take full advantage of coming through their brush with a shock exit and set up a last four clash with either Motherwell or Dundee United.
The full-back said, “I don’t think there should be any embarrassment at the result.
“Some SPL clubs would have lost on a day like that. Although we wanted to get through at the first time of asking, to take them back to Perth for a replay isn’t the worst result in the world. It means we’ve got another chance.
“We’re happy enough with that and hopefully we can finish the job off next week. We must have put our fans through the wringer but we’re still in the cup.
“I’ve been involved in a cup shock before when Livingston were a Premier League team and took Alloa back to our place and lost. We’ll be taking the replay very seriously.
“Brechin are a decent side and Rory McAllister did really well, even though we were disappointed in how we handled him.
“The tie is definitely not over. We will have to approach the replay in the right manner. We’ll be favourites but that won’t mean anything, as was proven on Saturday.”
As for the semi-final opponents that await the victors, Mackay said, “All eight teams are still in the competition so the draw was never going to be a clear one.
“There’s no point in us even thinking about either Motherwell or United because we have to be completely focused on our replay with Brechin.
“After Saturday there’s no danger of anybody thinking it’s job done and we’re in the semis.”
Meanwhile, Saints have appointed Frank Kenny as their new physiotherapist. The 27-year-old has been fulfilling the role since the departure of predecessor Nick Summersgill.