Dundee United boss Jackie McNamara says he is looking for three points, not revenge, when his side play St Johnstone at Tannadice this afternoon.
The game will be the first encounter between the two teams since they met in the Scottish Cup final on May 17 at Celtic Park, with Saints triumphing 2-0.
That defeat still hurts United, but McNamara is simply looking to secure victory this afternoon to keep his side at the top of the Premiership table.
McNamara said: “The revenge is not three points in the league. If we got another chance to play them in a cup final, then that would be revenge.
“It’s three points we’re playing for, that’s all and we play them four times in the league this season. So there’s no revenge in that sense.”
United went top of the table last Sunday after beating local rivals Dundee and then completed a double over the Dark Blues in the League Cup on Wednesday night.
McNamara acknowledged that a win over Saints would complete a memorable week for his side, but he is taking nothing for granted against Tommy Wright’s “bogey” team.
McNamara added: “It would be a great week if we could win on Saturday. We know how difficult it is going to be. St Johnstone were a real bogey team last year.
“Apart from beating them 4-0 in the first match between us, we then seemed to struggle in the rest of the games for some reason.
“You know what you are getting from them. They are well-organised, disciplined and hard to break down at times.
“Tommy was there watching us the other night as well. They stop you playing and can make things hard for you.
“Sometimes the first goal is very crucial. In the initial bit of the game, you have to compete with them and match them for effort and commitment.
“So you have to earn the right to play against them.”
Saints do not have their troubles to seek up front with star striker Steven MacLean sidelined through injury and on-loan United forward Brian Graham ineligible to play in the game.
Wright does have options but the United boss is expecting his Perth counterpart to flood the midfield in a bid to stifle his side.
McNamara said: “We’ll have to see how he sets up his team. He might put one up front and try to get balls into corners and frustrate.
“He’s got the lad Adam Morgan and Michael O’Halloran played up during the week so he has options, with Murray Davidson also able to play there.
“I would anticipate them coming here and overloading the midfield area so we’ll have to be patient and the fans need to be as well.
“Hopefully though we can get another three points.”
Saints may be missing their first-choice strike force but McNamara acknowledged they will still be a big danger at set-pieces.
However, he believes his side are better equipped to handle that threat following the summer arrivals of Callum Morris and Jarek Fojut.
And as an added bonus, the latter has also shown in recent weeks that he knows his way to the back of the net.
McNamara added: “I think we’re more suited now to handling set-pieces and we’re also scoring from them as you saw in the two derby matches.
“I think last year we scored one goal from a corner but this year we have scored a few already.
“I think that side of it is important. It means we’re not one dimensional and looking for the perfect goal at times.
“There are other bits to our team which possibly we were lacking last season.
“Big Jarek has been key. He is a great lad and has been fantastic since the first day he came in with his attitude and professionalism.
“He is a real strong character and a good leader on the park for us. That’s three goals in four games so he has been influential.”
United will be without the injured John Souttar and Mark Wilson while Gary Mackay-Steven is a doubt after straining his calf.