St Johnstone midfielder David Wotherspoon fully expects his status as a former Hibee will ensure he receives more stick than most when he comes up against Hearts this afternoon.
It will be back to league business for both sides following their cup exploits in midweek and Wotherspoon, who swapped Easter Road for Perth in the summer, is well aware of the high today’s hosts will be on following their League Cup success over their arch rivals on Wednesday night.
However, the 23-year-old hopes to bring Hearts back down to earth with a bump today by helping Saints build on the momentum they got from their own cup win over Morton.
“Over the first quarter it has been a bit up and down so we need to get a level of consistency and get a wee run going,” he said.
“We have beaten Motherwell and Morton and want to keep it going against Hearts. It would be a massive result to kick on and make it three wins in a week.
“Tynecastle is a great stadium to play at and the atmosphere is always electric.
“The fans are in your face and their support has been tremendous for the club this season.
“I’m expecting a bit of stick being an ex-Hibs player. They gave me plenty in the first game of the season in Perth. It wasn’t exactly a surprise.
“I take it all in good part. They will be at it again at Tynecastle and I am prepared for it and hopefully it spurs me on to perform to my best,” said Wotherspoon.
Hearts, who were hit with a 15-point deduction for going into administration pre-season, continue to battle away at the foot of the table but remain 15 points adrift of the rest of the pack following the first quarter of the campaign.
Wotherspoon sympathises with their plight in some respects, but his focus will always be on trying to better Saints’ current sixth position when the teams meet today.
“It will be tough for them getting out of bottom place but ‘never say never’ will be their attitude,” he said. “In this league it is tight and anything is possible.
“I know a few of the Hearts youngsters. They are good lads. It is a lot of pressure that is on them but they know the task they have ahead of them and they will be trying their best.
“But this weekend we have to stop them building on the win over Hibs and keep them down there. That derby win shows they are fighting. Hibs had been on a decent run so that was a good result for Hearts.
“The league is probably their priority rather than the cup but they will be buzzing after beating their city rivals. They are trying to get out of that relegation spot and will be up for it.
“But we will be up for this one as well. We are in the top six and we want to stay there and move up. We need to up our game again to the standard we showed against Motherwell rather than Morton.”
That last comment says it all about how close a contest was Wednesday’s League Cup tie at Cappielow, but Wotherspoon is just delighted that everyone at McDiarmid Park can look ahead to a national cup semi-final in February.
And the Perth-born playmaker reckons Saints have as good a chance as any of clinching silverware.
He continued: “Celtic are top of the league and flying so it will be tough for anyone to dislodge them, but we can try to win a cup.
“We didn’t perform as well as we know we can against Morton but we got there in the end. Missing out on Scottish Cup final squads with Hibs were the toughest times of my career but I know what it means to get to a final.
“We have to take it one step at a time and obviously Aberdeen now stand between us and the final.”
Manager Tommy Wright is likely to look to Tam Scobbie to fill in for the suspended Frazer Wright, while striker Steven MacLean could return after a knee injury.
He boss said: “Hearts will be charged up after their derby cup win their young players are fighting for the club and for Gary Locke and Billy Brown.”
Meanwhile, the SPFL have confirmed St Johnstone’s home game against Dundee United on Sunday December 29 has been brought forward to a 2pm kick-off at the request of both clubs.