Steven Anderson is hoping St Johnstone can win Monday night’s Tayside derby, en route to proving the region has once more become a credible force in Scottish football.
For several years, Dundee United have been the only Tayside presence in the SPL, and for the third season running they’ve finished in the top six.
Newly-promoted Saints are in with a shout of joining the Tangerines, and Anderson is hoping to put one over on his old club, boosting his present side’s chances of overhauling Hearts.
“It would be really good for the area to have two teams in the top six,” said Anderson.
“I don’t come from this neck of the woods but having been at United, and now playing for Saints, I recognise how much of a boost it would be for football here if both finished the right side of the split line.
“This match that’s coming up is a big deal for the two teams, as we each have a lot to play for.
“They (United) are chasing third place while we want to peg back Hearts.
“It would be good to come out of Monday night with the three points.”
Anderson returned to the Saints line-up for the midweek victory over Rangers, in which he forged a successful partnership with Michael Duberry.
He insists he’ll be ready for the derby, despite aggravating an injury against the Ibrox side.
“I’d been out for a while after stretching a lateral ligament against Motherwell and now I’ve tweaked my hamstring but I should be okay for United,” he said.
“It happened against Hamilton last weekend when I came on as a half-time sub and I felt it again in the second half against Rangers. But I wasn’t playing on one leg or anything like that.”MemoriesMuch as he revelled in the victory over Rangers, Anderson revealed he’d enjoyed the League Cup win at Ibrox three years ago even more.
He added, “That was a good result against Rangers the other night but it wasn’t as much of a thrill as beating them 2-0 at Ibrox.
“Back then, we were a first division club winning away from home and knocking them out of the cup.
“After losing at Hamilton we had to give it a go on Tuesday.
“We were at home and had to go looking for the victory we needed to keep alive our prospects of making the top six.
“If we’d lost to Rangers there would have been no margin for error. It would have been a massive ask to get past Hearts.
“We are still two points behind, and we have to hope Hearts slip up and we win our games against United and Aberdeen, but the bonus is that we will know the outcome of their matches before we play.
“Making the top six would be good financially for the club and we would get more experience of playing the bigger clubs.
“Another incentive is finishing high enough to avoid being involved in the initial stage of the CIS Cup and having to come back early for pre-season.”
Anderson added, “And, having beaten Rangers, it would be nice to have a crack at Celtic in the final weeks of the season.”