Being dropped for St Johnstone’s League Cup semi-final was a career low for Paddy Cregg, the Irish midfielder admitted.
But he has put the pain behind him and re-focused on new goals. The immediate one is trying to end Celtic’s unbeaten Scottish Premiership record at Parkhead on Sunday.
And the next one will be helping the Perth club back to another semi-final and hopefully playing in it this time.
Cregg reflected: “I was heartbroken to miss the semi-final, it was the biggest game of our season. The manager has to make those decisions and when he does you have to just respect it and get on with it.
“Hopefully I can play my part now I’m back in the team and you never know, we might get another chance in the Scottish Cup. It was a really hard one to take, it’s down there with the biggest lows I’ve had in football.
“I’ve played in semis and finals before so I thought I might have been playing, but he decided to change it.
“He told me on the Friday, which was better than finding out on the morning of the game. It wasn’t nice but it’s his team at the end of the day and that’s his job.
“I went away and cleared my head, so by the Saturday I was fine. I was in a perfect place mentally by that time.
“I was gutted but I wasn’t going to let it affect me in training. At times like that you have to put your own selfish agenda to one side and hope the other lads got us to a final.”
The 4-0 defeat to Aberdeen meant Cregg wasn’t alone in having psychological baggage from the League Cup experience to cast aside, but he insisted that everybody in the Saints camp is now in a much better place. The win at Forfar saw to that.
“We did what we had to against Forfar at the weekend,” Cregg stated.
“It was always going to be a tough game but once we got the first we were able to win it comfortably. That has helped get the Aberdeen game out of our system a bit and we’re looking forward to the Celtic game on Sunday now.
“I want to play in every game, I’m the same as everyone else in wanting to play as much as possible.
“It’s up to me to give myself the best possible chance of doing that. That means being as fit as a I can and doing the best I can in training.”
If it was Saints last week who had to overcome a crushing disappointment, this week it’s the turn of Neil Lennon’s men.
“Celtic’s defeat to Aberdeen means they’ll want to come out and beat us,” Cregg pointed out.
“But they have not been prolific at home this season, their best form has been away from Celtic Park. For the Celtic players, it might not be the kind of crowd they’re used to, especially with the early kick off for television.”