Dundee United defender John Souttar is confident their poor league record against St Johnstone won’t be a factor when the teams meet in the William Hill Scottish Cup final.
The 2-0 defeat at McDiarmid Park on Saturday meant the Tangerines have now lost three Premiership games in a row to Saints, conceding six goals and scoring none in the process.
That would appear to give the Perth men the edge going into the May 17 decider at Celtic Park but Souttar is not so sure.
Asked if Tommy Wright’s team now held a psychological advantage over his team, Souttar said: “Maybe, maybe not, but I think cup finals are always one-off games and not affected by other results.
“You saw Birmingham beat Arsenal in the League Cup down in England a few years ago, while Wigan beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final as well.
“It is hard to predict the outcome of finals and it comes down to what happens during the 90 minutes.
“So I don’t think this will affect us at all. We are a confident bunch and I think we’re capable of beating them on our day.”
Souttar shot down any suggestion that minds strayed towards the big one during a lacklustre league display from United that saw them lose to goals from Steven Anderson and Stevie May in either half.
He said: “I don’t think we had one eye on the cup final. I think the 11 players who went out there were all playing for final places.”
“People might say we have downed tools but that’s not the case at all. Everyone is playing for cup final jerseys but that wasn’t good enough at all.
“I think it was just one of those days. From the word go, we were off the pace.
“It didn’t feel like it was a team good performance. We just didn’t get going at all from the start and they dominated most of the areas.
“We reverted to long balls which we usually don’t do. St Johnstone are a good side and they work hard.
“They pressed us high and stopped us from playing football. We like to get the ball down and play. We’re at our best playing that way.
“But I don’t think we should dwell on this one performance. We should look forward to the cup final because it’s a massive occasion.”