St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright believes discipline will be key when his side play Hearts in the Betfred League Cup at McDiarmid tomorrow night.
The Saints manager admits that Robbie Neilson has put together a good Jambos side that combines real quality with a big physical presence.
St Johnstone showed they could cope with a similar challenge when they drew with Aberdeen on Sunday while Hearts played Celtic later that afternoon in a game that saw the Edinburgh side pick up seven yellow cards.
Now, Wright is looking for his players to stand up and be counted once again to propel themselves into the quarter-finals of the cup.
He said: “I was pleased with the shape and defensive performance against Aberdeen and we will need to be at it again against Hearts.
“It is important to keep your discipline against them.
“I think they had seven yellow cards against Celtic and the most of any team last year so that trend seems to be continuing. They had two sending-offs against us last year.
“We can’t afford to get involved in anything but be ready for another physical battle and stand up to them.
“But Hearts do have real quality as well and we don’t underestimate that.
“Because of the size of club they are, Hearts are looking at a different pool of players from us and Robbie Neilson has done a great job since coming in as manager.
“They are a top, top side. We will have to be at our best to get a result.”
Wright doesn’t buy into the theory that neither club would have fancied this tie at this stage of the competition.
He added: “In a cup game you want a home draw and we have been difficult to beat here.
“The chances were we would get a big team because we weren’t seeded.
“Last year we beat Rangers at Ibrox when they were fancied. And our form last season against the so-called bigger clubs was better than teams finishing in the bottom six.”
