St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright is well aware Aberdeen are now eyeing a momentous cup double come the end of the season.
But the Perth boss maintains his side will do everything in their power to prevent that when they meet in the Scottish Cup semi-finals next month.
Aberdeen claimed their first silverware in almost two decades by lifting the League Cup on Sunday and will no doubt fancy their chances of reaching the final of a second major cup competition when they play Saints at Ibrox on April 13.
However, while Wright warmly congratulated Aberdeen on their success, the Saints boss says he will be out to deny the Dons a historic cup double.
“I am pleased for Derek McInnes and Tony Docherty and so is everyone at St Johnstone, where they are still highly regarded given their record here in taking the club back to the top division,” he said.
“They have enjoyed a tremendous season. But given that we face them again in another semi-final next month I don’t want them to get too greedy!
“Obviously having won the League Cup they will have their sights set on a cup double. But we want to get to our first ever Scottish Cup final and having got that far go on to win it.
“People were saying that if Aberdeen lost on Sunday that would put added pressure on them to win the Scottish Cup.
“Now that they have won a trophy there will be pressure and expectations from their fans to make it a historic double. But we are in a position to write our own little bit of history.
“Aberdeen will be buzzing after their League Cup win and plenty of those 40,000 fans should be back at Ibrox for our semi-final.
“But that is fine by us. You want a big crowd to create a great atmosphere at a great stadium, and our fans will be right up for it.”
Wright watched Sunday’s final with interest and sympathised with the beaten side, especially because spot-kicks ended up settling affairs.
He continued: “I thought Inverness did very well and pushed them all the way.
“It was 100mph at times. I felt for the ICT players given we had our own cup heartache when we lost to Minsk here in the Europa League at the start of the season.
“So we know how much that hurts and it was a hard one for John Hughes and his players to take. Our semi-final will come around in its own good time.
“It’s on the back burner and football-wise we have to concentrate on the league and a very important game with Hibs.”
Wright admitted Saturday’s 1-0 loss at home to Ross County was unexpected given the way recent results have gone, but has urged players and fans to put it in context.
“It was disappointing for the players at the weekend because they know they can do so much better,” he added.
“They were hurting after the game.
“But we are very much in the driving seat for the top six and that is the important thing at this stage of the season. We know that if we beat Hibs this weekend we are in the top six again for the third successive season.
“Even a draw would mean Hibs had to win their last two games and look for us to lose our three remaining matches. Maybe on Saturday the players’ energy levels had been sapped by the effort they put in in beating Dundee United.
“There isn’t much time between the Wednesday and the Saturday and maybe there were a few heavy legs. But we know that if we win on Saturday we are in the top six again, which would be a tremendous achievement for this football club.
“We have also reached two semi-finals on the back of reducing costs on the football side, without weakening the squad.
“So I think we are having a good season.”