Dundee United defender Garry Kenneth reveals how he was initially unaware of the Hampden heartache that now awaits him.
Following the final whistle, Kenneth led the celebrations on the Tannadice pitch after David Robertson’s last-gasp goal against Rangers had secured an Active Nation Scottish Cup semi-final spot against Raith Rovers at the national stadium on April 11.
His high became a low, however, when he was informed that the booking he had received for complaining about not getting a stonewall penalty against the Light Blues ruled him out of the clash with Rovers.
Now he will be in the stand cheering on his colleagues in the hope that he may get a crack at the final.
“I didn’t know straight away that I would be suspended,” confirmed the Scotland squad man.
“It wasn’t until the media guys told me after the match that the penny dropped.
“I then remembered that I had been booked in one of the previous rounds against Partick Thistle.
“The thing is, it was such an obvious penalty and I think if the ref has watched it again he would agree.
“After the ball is headed, Kyle Lafferty’s hand comes up. That is what I was annoyed about and why I got the booking.
“But it is done and dusted now. We are into the semi-finals and that is all that matters.
“Obviously I had a wee bit of mixed emotions. I am thrilled for the lads to get to the semi but at the same time it hurts that I won’t be able to play.”
United manager Peter Houston sympathised with Kenneth’s predicament and admitted he would probably have been booked himself had he been playing.
“Garry got frustrated because of the penalty shout and I can understand that,” said Houston.
“In a similar circumstance I probably would have ended up booked as well!”
The United boss is close friends with Raith’s John McGlynn from their days together on the coaching staff at Hearts and he revealed he received a message of congratulations from the man who will be in the opposite dugout for the last-four clash.
“I got a text from John last night, just saying he thought we deserved it,” said Houston.
“He said, ‘Well done and I look forward to seeing you on the 11th.’
“He is a good pal of mine and I speak to him regularly.
“He is a top coach and his players will know everything about us by the time the game comes around.”
The semi-final has been confirmed as taking place at Hampden, even though the crowd will probably be less than half the capacity.
That is not a problem for Houston.
“We will just play where we are told to play,” he said.
“Obviously, if there is going to be less than 20,000 at the game then somewhere like Tynecastle might be better but we have no preference.”
United lost Morgaro Gomis and Mihael Kovacevic to hamstring injuries and while the former may make it for tomorrow’s game against Motherwell the latter is out.
“Morgaro is a bit sore so he might be OK for the weekend,” he said.
“Mihael will definitely be out, though, because he hurt his hamstring; that is likely to keep him out for two or three weeks.
“It has been a very draining few days, mentally and physically, so I might look to freshen things up for Motherwell.”
Following on from the success of their reduced admission policy for the cup replay, which saw the United allocation sell out, the club have announced that all fans aged under 18 can see tomorrow’s game against Motherwell for a fiver, sitting in the Shed end only.
Tickets for the away game against Hibs next Wednesday are now on sale, with numbers limited due to ground reconstruction at Easter Road.