St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson says he is pleased their Betfred Cup fate remains in their own hands after missing out on a bonus point against Dundee United last night.
The sides played out a stalemate and share of the spoils over 90 minutes in a tight Group C clash at McDiarmid Park.
However, goalie Deniz Mehmet was the hero for the Terrors in the shootout, saving twice from the spot to earn them an extra point.
United top the group but have played all their games, meaning it all comes down to second versus third as Saints take on Peterhead on Saturday.
Davidson says his players understand the importance of their trip north.
“I was quite happy with the performance and thought we probably had the better chances, especially in the second half,” he said.
“For me, if we score late, we would’ve seen the game out and win but we didn’t lose the game.
“In the penalties their goalie made a couple of great saves, especially off Scott Tanser.
“It’s all about Saturday, the players know that and understand where we are if we want to get through and top the group.
“We need to go up there and win.”
Despite losing the shootout, Davidson was happy with his side’s performance over the piece, insisting a little more cutting edge in the final third could’ve swung the game in their favour.
© SNS Group
The Perth boss added: “I think we got into good areas again it’s just our composure that let us down.
“It was an intense game, both teams worked extremely hard to try to stop each and break.
“We had the two best chances but in the second half we didn’t really create apart from a wee bit of pressure at corners.
“Zander (Clark) didn’t have much to do and we looked like the ones most likely to score.
“But that’s six unbeaten now and it was an all-Premiership tie so it was really important we didn’t get beat.
“We’ve given ourselves a chance going into the Peterhead game and we’re going there to win.”
Saints gaffer Davidson made six changes from last Friday’s 1-0 win over Kilmarnock, bringing in Shaun Rooney, Callum Booth, Craig Bryson, Liam Craig, Callum Hendry and Chris Kane to the starting XI.
He was happy with their contributions, particularly those of forward Kane.
Davidson commented: “I changed it but I changed it to win the game.
“I didn’t do it for the sake of it. I could’ve played different players but I thought the guys were excellent.
“Chris Kane, in particular. He’s worked really hard to get back to where he was.
“Liam Craig is unlucky not to play and Callum Booth’s the same.”
Help support quality local journalism … become a digital subscriber to The Courier
For as little as £5.99 a month you can access all of our content, including Premium articles.
Subscribe