St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright reckons his side is the poor relation in the Scottish Cup semi-final draw – with most interest in a New Firm final between Aberdeen and Dundee United.
But he believes beating the Dons at Ibrox on Sunday would be the perfect riposte to his club’s critics.
The Perth manager, pictured below, who will resume his place in the dug-out after recovering from gall-bladder surgery, is using any and every motivational trick.
Saints players claim they are being viewed as second-class citizens and Wright is using that to spur them on.
He said: “The players are very aware that everyone outwith the club and our supporter base seems to want a New Firm revival-style story for the final.
“But I believe us making our first Scottish Cup final in 130 years would be an even better story.
“Pat Nevin was writing us off even when my assistant Callum Davidson was there beside him in a television studio.
“We were being written off along with Rangers from the moment the draw was made. I would tend to disagree. We are the smallest club of the last four and obviously history is against us.
“But going in there under the radar suits us and we are happy with a low-key build-up. We go in under no pressure.
“We know we haven’t done ourselves justice against Aberdeen, but at the start of the season I said we had quality players who were match-winners and we would be a good cup side.
“That has proved to be the case.
“We believe we can go all the way by playing to our full potential and eliminating the basis mistakes which cost us in the League Cup semi-final against Aberdeen.”
Saints took more than 4,000 to the League Cup semi-final but crashed 4-0 to the Dons and some players are still licking their wounds.
The Perth club has sold 2,500 tickets for Sunday’s semi-final but expects more to shift this week. Wright hopes supporters will focus on the present rather than the past.
He added: “Ticket sales are going well and I think it’s important that we get as many Saints supporters as possible into Ibrox.
“I’m hearing people say we’ve lost so many semi-finals and hearing talk about all these previous disappointments. I’m sure there are people thinking like that. But this is a different game, with different players. I’d encourage as many to come along to do their bit to hopefully help us make it to the club’s first Scottish Cup final.
“There are a lot of players here who have suffered in cup semi-finals. There are players who have been here a long time and there will be supporters who have seen all seven we’ve lost since the war.
“The younger ones will connect with the more recent games.
“Losing semi-finals isn’t nice, but getting to the final would put a smile on a lot of people’s faces and take away a lot of the heartache.”