It doesn’t matter whether there’s 5000 or 50,000 at Hampden on Saturday for St Johnstone’s Scottish Cup semi-final against Motherwell as far as Perth defender Dave Mackay is concerned, because winning is all that counts.
He said, “I’ve played against the boy Murphy a couple of times and he’s a really good player.
“He’s a lot quicker than people might think and he’s added goals to his game. This season he’s been really impressive.
“On the other side they’ve got Humphrey.
“There’s not many defenders can handle pace like he’s got.
It’s just a matter of whether his end ball is good enough.
“He’s another one who has scored a few recently as well. We know we’ll have our hands full with those two.”
Saints are preparing for the game at Largs, and Finnish keeper Peter Enckelman and striker Collin Samuel both returned to training yesterday.
Steven Anderson is causing concern and is receiving treatment for a knee injury while there will be late decisions made on Chris Millar, Jody Morris and Kevin Moon.
Manager Derek McInnes said, “I would love to see all four making it but at this moment I’d probably settle for three out of four.”‘Relax’ McInnesHe added, “Semi-finals can be nervy occasions with players scared to make mistakes, so we have to get the balance right and make sure anxiety and expectations don’t get the better of them.
“The players have to use any nerves to spur them on.
“In my book you only enjoy games once they are over and you have won, or have a four-goal lead with time running out.
“But I want my players to relax enough to produce what I know they are capable of.”
McInnes said, “When there isn’t much between two teams it can come down to who handles the occasion better.
“I am more than confident I have a team here which is capable of doing it.
“This is probably the best opportunity we have had in my time here to reach a final but we know it won’t be easy against a good Motherwell side who may be slight favourites.
“But in our last four games we have played quality opposition and I have taken positives from all of them.”
There were fewer than 15,000 fans there when Mackay was part of the Dundee team that knocked Inverness Caley Thistle out in the last four of the cup in 2003 and, with this match kicking off at lunchtime and being shown on two television channels, a similar attendance is expected.
Nothing will dilute the euphoria if Saints progress to their first ever Scottish Cup final, however, Mackay insisted.
The ex-Livingston player said, “When I got to the cup final with Dundee we played Inverness in the semi-final at Hampden and hopefully I can have another winning experience.
“After we won our quarter-final we knew that Celtic had been knocked out by Inverness so the incentive was there for us.”
He added, “You’re thinking, ‘What a chance we’ve got.’
“We only beat them 1-0 with a scrappy Giorgi Nemsadze goal but it doesn’t matter.
“I’ll take that again. Any type of victory will do.”
Mackay said, “It was a strange occasion. It was an early kick-off with about 14,000 people there so it will be similar circumstances on Saturday.
“We don’t mind. Personally, I’d have preferred to play at Easter Road or Tynecastle because it would have made it a better atmosphere, but for other lads who haven’t played in a semi-final at Hampden I can see why they’d want to play there.”
There were no favourites eight years ago and it turned out to be the predicted tight encounter.
It is a scenario that Mackay expects tomorrow.’You don’t get many chances like this’He said, “That match was one where both teams fancied their chances.
“They were a first division club at the time but they’d been doing well and had the likes of Barry Robson in their line-up.
“This one will be the same.”
He added, “I heard Stephen Craigan on the TV saying that both teams will be thinking it’s a great opportunity to get to a final and I agree with him.
“You don’t get many chances like this in a career.
“They’ll probably be slight favourites because they’re above us in the league and they’re going into the match on the back of a decent bit of form.
“They’ve beaten Dundee United twice recently, as well as Celtic.
“But we see it as a great chance and I’d say it is probably 50/50.”
As is often the case with a first cup final appearance, the day flew by without Mackay being able to take it all in.
The full-back would love to get the opportunity to savour the moment a second time round, and maybe even lift the trophy.Saints’ final woesHe said, “It was my first full season as a regular player.
“You think those sort of occasions will come round regularly when you’re young and that it will be the first of many.
“It doesn’t work out that way for most of us, though, as it’s proved with me because I haven’t played in another since.”
He added, “The game itself floated by. Barry Smith hit the post early on but the rest of the match is a bit of a blur.
“We probably had a great chance because Rangers didn’t perform that day but unfortunately we couldn’t take it.”
“It’s something I’ll look back on at the end of my career but I’d much rather have a winner’s medal and hopefully this year I can get one.”
Mackay said, “I know that St Johnstone have never got to a Scottish Cup final.
“It’s quite surprising when you think about it. Plenty of other clubs have had their day.
“It’s been over 125 years which is a long, long time. It’s a great chance for us to make a big bit of history.”
In Motherwell’s quarter-final replay against Dundee United it was wide men Jamie Murphy and Chris Humphrey who caused havoc.
Mackay knows that he and left-back Danny Grainger will have to be at the top of their games to make sure the same doesn’t happen to Saints.