Time for Saints to go marching in

DEREK McINNES has been involved in three major semi-finals with St Johnstone.

Each time Saints have been a credit to themselves and left nothing out on the park. Each time the team from the higher division who edged them out went on to lift the trophy.

After all three defeats McInnes has been patted on the back by relieved rivals and told: 'Better luck next time'.

Now the ambitious Perth boss believes the time has come for his Saints to go marching in... to the Co-operative Insurance Cup final.

He's convinced that his team can heal the scars of losing the 2008 Scottish Cup semi-final to Rangers on penalties by showing the same resilience Gers are famous for at Hampden on Wednesday.

The former Rangers player said: "That semi-final defeat against Rangers still rankles.

"Until we get to a final - until we win a trophy - it'll always be there. I was delighted with my players and the way we played against Rangers, it's the penalties we missed that stick in my mind the most.

"With Queen of the South reaching the final, we had a real chance to win a trophy against a team from our own league at the time. How often does a chance like that come along?

"That's one of the reasons it still bothers me. When you get yourself in front in a semi-final and you're into extra-time, you think you're almost there. It's all could haves, should haves and maybes. They're the words we don't want to be saying after the game on Wednesday.

"Instead I want us to be saying we did the business against Rangers and we deserved to get to a final.

"I think it's a mental thing, every time you play a club like Rangers on an occasion like this. It's about having a real belief and confidence in yourself.

"It's no use just going out there hoping to win against Rangers. You've got to really believe you CAN win. I believe I have a lot of confident players and I need them all to show that on Wednesday. I certainly believe we can do it. It is a big ask for us but it's not beyond us.

"Rangers are used to being in these situations. It's second nature for them to be here in a semi-final but we've got to see this tie for what it is - a real chance to get to the club's first cup final for a long, long time."

Saints were a First Division side in 2008, battling to win promotion to the SPL. McInnes believes the winning habits they picked up during last season's title triumph taught his players a never-say-die attitude and resilience which has stuck with them.

Rangers discovered McInnes's SPL new-boys were no push- overs when they were lucky to leave McDiarmid Park with a 2-1 win in October, after being outplayed for most of the 90 minutes.

McInnes said: "Rangers have good players and you have to try and keep their better players quiet, difficult as that might be.

"However we also have to go into it with some confidence and I think we've got that quality within the team. We have shown a confidence and assurance all season. We've also shown a willingness to go forward and the fact we've been allowed to play a bit more in this league than we did last season has helped a lot of our boys.

"I do think we have that mentality when we simply don't know when we're beaten. The 3-3 draw with Dundee United in midweek was a good example of that. Rarely does a team fight back from that kind of turnaround in the SPL. We were 2-0 up but after going 3-2 down we forced them back straight away - it's that type of spirit I want.

"You've got to have that mentality where you're not just going to roll over. We know we can cause Rangers problems after playing them twice this season. In the first game at McDiarmid Park we really got after them and asked a lot of questions of them and they and they were relieved to score with a late goal.

"The players and I took a lot out of that game. It was the total opposite of the game at Ibrox with them when we slit our own throat and rolled over for them by losing an early goal. That can't happen at Hampden.

"It's my third semi-final with St Johnstone - two as a player and one as a manager - so we've hit the bar on a couple of occasions, so to speak. We have actually performed very well in all three semi-finals and lost to the eventual winners each time.

"We've run them all very close and we've been pleased with how we've played in all three semi-finals. But for us to try and move the whole thing on now, and make progress at the club, we're trying to take that next step and get to a final.

"That's the motivation for us. And if you can get to a final, then you never know."

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