St Johnstone manager Derek McInnes has promised that his players won’t let their minds drift towards the Celtic double-header.
The Perth men host the high-flying Hoops in a Co-operative Cup quarter-final next Wednesday before welcoming them back to McDiarmid Park the following Saturday on league business.
However, McInnes is adamant Saints will only have thoughts on how to beat Hamilton Accies in the SPL tomorrow, even though a trip to New Douglas Park may lack the sparkle of the fixtures to follow.
“All our focus is on the Hamilton game and that is our priority,” he said. “The Celtic games are terrific prospects but they will take care of themselves.
“I would expect nothing less than for my players’ approach to be spot on for the Accies match. It is the beginning of a tough week and I can promise that we won’t take our eye off the ball.
“I fully expect a tough match because the one thing you are guaranteed from a team managed by Billy Reid is that they will be competitive. Throughout the years, we have always had difficult matches against Hamilton and I would expect nothing less this time.
“There is a mutual respect between the two clubs. They have players who can hurt us and I am sure they would say that about us too.”
Likely to be a key man for the Perth men is midfielder Liam Craig, who is hoping that Saints can get their first away win of the season at the venue where they turned their fortunes around last term.
Playing well without tangible reward at the time, Saints travelled to Lanarkshire on October 3 and came away with a 2-0 success that spurred them on to greater things.
“That win really got us going after some good performances without the points to show for our efforts,” said Craig. “It has been frustrating not to get an away win yet. It is still early days but we need to start winning games away from Perth.
“That means being more clinical in front of goal. We know it is not good enough to play well and not get victories, but remember that Inverness could have gone third in the table by beating us and we dominated them for an hour.”Adams’ returnSaints will include midfielder Jamie Adams, newly-returned from his loan spell at Dundee, in their squad if, as expected, clearance comes through from the SPL.
Adams was joined at the club’s Grangemouth training centre by Murray Davidson but Graham Gartland is still out.
Steven Anderson is still suspended for the Accies game after breaching the penalty points barrier.
“Jamie is back with us and trained with the rest of the lads,” said McInnes.