Years of experience tell St Johnstone keeper Steve Banks that dwelling on last week’s League Cup disappointment will do little or no good.
That’s why the veteran shot-stopper is determined to put Saturday’s semi-final defeat behind him if he lines up against Forfar.
Banks faced criticism from some quarters for conceding four against Aberdeen at Tynecastle, with pundits like the BBC’S Michael Stewart suggesting it was a “game too many” for him.
The keeper himself, who turns 42 this Sunday, insists the fact he has been around the block a few times means he is the ideal candidate to line up against the Loons this weekend.
He said: “My age becomes an issue, sometimes positive, at other times negative. As far as I’m concerned what happened on Saturday has nothing to do with my age.
“Michael Stewart is there to voice his opinions and whether I agree or disagree with them doesn’t really matter. That’s what he is paid for but I don’t have a problem with him.
“The reason I am where I am is that I have got over things like this in the past and come out of it bigger and stronger. Younger keepers take these things to heart but you have to learn.
“Without having a crystal ball, that might have been the end for a younger keeper if that had happened to him in a semi-final but it is down to the individual how you react.
“The good thing about football is that there is always another game. One minute you are a villain and the next you can be a hero and that is especially true for a keeper.
“After losing 4-0 to Dundee United, I was man of the match at Aberdeen in a goalless draw.
“Before that match at Pittodrie, some people had been asking if that Tannadice game was the end of Steve Banks. I take the rough with the smooth and I have done that throughout my career.”
Banks has replayed Saturday’s goals over and over in his mind and admits responsibility for the miskicked clearance that led to Jonny Hayes’ first goal for Aberdeen, although TV replays later suggested the Saints defence could still have dealt with the situation a little better.
Banks added: “At the time I wasn’t aware the ball was moving when I went to kick it. All I knew was that I had taken a great big divot. It was like all my golf shots, not just some of them!
“And even on the telly, which clearly showed the ball moving, you don’t see the crater it made.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZxUcRlblR7k%3Frel%3D0
“Obviously I mis-hit it but it went straight towards the half-way line where Frazer Wright only just missed it and then Ando (Steven Anderson) missed the cross and Hayes was standing there. But he almost fell over it.”
With no 1 Alan Mannus sidelined through injury, Banks is likely to be Saints’ last line of defence in tomorrow’s Scottish Cup tie at Forfar.
He said: “If I am selected to play against Forfar, I will be looking forward to the game and a win to reach the quarter-finals would be a nice birthday present.”