St Johnstone goalkeeper Alan Mannus maintains the club’s semi-final record will not play on the team’s minds after booking a place in the Scottish Cup’s last four.
History is hardly on Saints’ side in semi-finals, having now lost seven, but Mannus insists that factor will not come into play when the Perth team travel to Ibrox for the latest semi.
“I know the bookies will have their favourites and it won’t be us, but we don’t care because on our day we can match anyone.
“If we get through to the final, keep doing well in the league and get into the top six then it would be a good season for us after finishing third and getting into Europe last season, which was special.
“But there’s a long way to go and a lot of work to do before we get to the final.
“It would be nice for the fans, particularly those who travelled in numbers to Stark’s Park, if we got to our first ever Scottish Cup final.”
Saturday’s quarter-final win was made all the sweeter for Mannus as he missed the League Cup semi-final against Aberdeen through injury.
“It was tough for me watching the semi-final from the outside,” he added.
“I didn’t get to savour it because I wasn’t on the pitch but I wouldn’t have made a difference if I played. I just hope I’m available for this one and we can see what happens.”
He added: “Raith Rovers must be given a lot of credit because they were excellent and made it really difficult for us and scored an unbelievable goal.
“We’ve played a number of Championship teams this season and they’ve all been really good, so a lot of credit goes to them. Hopefully it was an exciting enough game for it being on TV.”