Michael Duberry recalls how the last time St Johnstone and Hamilton met it was to decide who would finish top of the bottom half of the SPL.
Accies were the victors on the final day of the season at McDiarmid Park, winning 3-2, and leapfrogged the Perth men into seventh spot in the table.
Now, though, as Saints settle into a new campaign, Duberry believes they have every right to be more ambitious and optimistic about where they will end up next May.
As he prepared for Saturday’s trip west to New Douglas Park, the former Chelsea man said, “I remember that match and both teams went all out to win the game.
“That was an indication of both clubs’ determination and desire to finish as high up the league as possible.
“Even though Hamilton and ourselves had missed out on the top six we wanted to ‘win’ the bottom half of the division.
“It is natural to want to do as well as you can and every SPL side would love to be the best of the rest outwith the Old Firm.
“I think that every other set of players should think third place is up for grabs.
“If you can get a little bit of consistency in your play then you can go far.Undefeated”Last season, Motherwell went about a dozen games undefeated and that pushed them up into a European place.
“Dundee United, too, were so hard to beat and they ended up in third spot.
“Being around that area of the table is just so much more appealing that seventh or eighth spot and I see no reason why we shouldn’t be aiming high.”
Duberry believes Saints are beginning to get into their stride, following a fine home win against Hibs and decent draw up at Inverness.
The next target is to win on the road.
“We are playing all right and I think our first away win will come sooner rather than later,” predicted the big Englishman.
“I think there were a lot of positives in our display last week in Inverness that we can take into this game.
“Drawing up there felt like a defeat at the time because we had so many chances, but on reflection it was a good point. So we have a bit of momentum.
“It would be nice to be moving even more quickly than we have been and to be turning good performances into points.Relaxed”However, I am not going to make the fact we have yet to win away from home into a big deal. It isn’t and we are relaxed about it.
“We probably should have had the first away win last Saturday, but there is no reason for us to be discouraged.
“This season there has probably only been one bad team performance against Motherwell. Other than that there have been more positives than negatives.
“So there is no reason for any of us to be down or for there to be bad vibes in our dressing room.”
Manager Derek McInnes was sent to the stand in the final minutes of that end-of-season encounter with Accies so frustrated was he at the time.
He has mellowed since, saying, “There seemed a lot of importance on the outcome at the time but maybe not so much looking back on it now.
“We were already well safe from relegation and I guess it was a credit to both sides that come the last game of the season they had a real determination to win.
“It went Hamilton’s way that day but there has never been much between the teams and we are going there with a lot of confidence.”
In a surprise U-turn, midfielder Jamie Adams has returned to Dundee to see out his loan deal.
Saints had called the player back earlier this week and Adams was expected to be in the squad for Hamilton.
However, McInnes said, “We were pleased with the progress Jamie was making under Gordon Chisholm and the loan agreement with Dundee is still in place and will continue for the next nine weeks.
“We have had Jamie watched and he has been terrific. He went there to get games and improve his sharpness.
“That will continue and we will welcome him back in January.”