Unfancied to win their Scottish Cup semi-final and unwanted in the final, St Johnstone will be a team with a point to prove on Sunday, according to Perth boss Tommy Wright.
Even though they will be going into their second last-four cup clash of the season with Aberdeen on the back of some excellent league form, Wright believes a Dons v Dundee United final is the one media pundits want to see.
Wright, who will return to the dug-out at Ibrox for the first time since having his gall bladder removed, said: “We couldn’t be going into the game in better shape, but to a lot of people I don’t think that matters.
“The players are very aware that everyone outwith the club and our fan base seems to want and expect a New Firm revival-style story for the final, but I believe us making our first Scottish Cup final in 130 years would be an even better story.
“Pat Nevin was writing us off even when Callum Davidson was there beside him in the BBC studio.”
“We were being written off along with Rangers from the moment the draw was made. I would tend to disagree. We are the smallest club of the last four and obviously history is against us.
“But going in there under the radar suits us and we are happy with a low key build-up. We go in under absolutely no pressure.
“We know we haven’t done ourselves justice against Aberdeen but at the start of the season I said we had quality players who were match winners and we would be a good cup side. That has proved to be the case. We believe we can go all the way by playing to our full potential and eliminating the basis mistakes which cost us in the League Cup.”
The manager expects to take his place in the Ibrox dug-out on Sunday.
“I am feeling better day by day and I must have made 35 calls to Alec Cleland in the Kilmarnock game at the weekend. So I will probably be in there again, despite it being more calming and less stressful up in the stand.”
Wright will prepare his team on the day before the match at Celtic’s Lennoxtown training ground.
He said: “We will stay overnight at a hotel in Glasgow. Neil Lennon has kindly given us access to their facilities to do a light session on Saturday.”
Saints have sold around 2,500 tickets for the match so far, and Wright has sent a message to supporters swithering about making the trip west that the club’s previous eight Scottish Cup semi-final defeats won’t count against them in number nine.
He pointed out: “Ticket sales are going well but I think it’s important that we get as many Saints fans into Ibrox as possible.
“I’m hearing people say ‘we’ve lost so many semi-finals’ and hearing talk about all these previous disappointments. I’m sure there are people thinking like that.
“A lot of the older supporters, in particular, have had to endure a lot of disappointments over the years.
“But this is a different game, with different players. I’d encourage as many to come along to do their bit to hopefully help us make it to the club’s first Scottish Cup final.
“There’s a lot of people who have suffered here in cup semi-finals. There are players who have been here a long time, and there will be supporters who have seen all eight we’ve lost.
“The younger ones will connect with the more recent ones. Getting to the final would put a smile on a lot of people’s faces and take away a lot of the heartache, because losing semi-finals isn’t nice.”
Wright couldn’t be happier with his team’s form going into the match, after securing an impressive win on the road at Kilmarnock.
He noted: “Saturday was exactly what we needed – keeping our run going away from home and keeping us in touch with Inverness and Dundee United in the league, and giving us a confidence boost for Sunday.
“We’ve been working on keeping the ball better after the Partick game, and that was really good against Kilmarnock. When we do that we can get our full-backs up the pitch and cause teams problems. All in all it was exactly what was required.