McInnes dreaming of Hampden

Posted Tuesday, October 27, 2009 by PA

Derek McInnes has revealed his St Johnstone players will be motivated by revenge and a trip to Hampden Park when they face Dundee United in the Co-operative Insurance Cup.

McInnes will urge Saints to make amends for last month's 3-2 Clydesdale Bank Premier League defeat to their local rivals, as well as reminding them they are one win away from a semi-final at the national stadium next year.

"It will be difficult for us but we've got to go into the game with a bit of confidence," McInnes told Press Association Sport.

"We lost narrowly in the league to them a couple of weeks ago and that was a sore one to take. It's an ideal opportunity to make amends."

He added: "When you get to this stage, you're up against good sides. Dundee United have proven that over the last couple seasons and they're doing so again this season.

"They'll have the same aspirations as ourselves. But we know there's a reward for us at the end of it.

"If we can get through this, it's a big, big thing for everybody getting to Hampden and the chance of getting to a final."

Saints have not reached the final of a major cup competition since finishing runners-up in the League Cup 11 years ago.

They lost out to Rangers that day, as they did on their last trip to Hampden when the sides needed penalties to separate them in the Scottish Cup semi-final.

Reaching the same stage again should be helped by the fact Saints have finally been handed a home tie after three successive away draws.

However, McInnes' men have enjoyed their League Cup road trips, racking up 14 goals in games against Stenhousemuir, Arbroath and Hibernian.

"We've scored a lot of goals, we've got a couple of good results," McInnes said.

"But especially being a quarter-final tie, we were hoping for a home draw and we've got that. We need to use any sort of advantage that we have and make that count for something."

McInnes therefore knows the importance of having McDiarmid Park as full as possible.

"There was a big crowd for the league game and you expect good support for these sort of games," he said.

"It's a local derby and it doesn't get much better than that so we hope to get a big crowd and a good atmosphere and that could drive us on to a performance. We're really looking forward to the tie."

St Johnstone are hopeful captain Kevin Rutkiewicz will finally be able to make his first appearance of the season.

Defender Rutkiewicz has been beset by various injuries, the latest of which is a stomach strain, but he trained on Sunday and could be involved.

The same applies to midfielder Filipe Morais, who missed Saturday's 2-1 Clydesdale Bank Premier League defeat at Kilmarnock with a shoulder injury, but striker Steven Milne (ankle) is not expected to return for at least another week.

McInnes, a former United captain, has built an attractive team at McDiarmid Park after replacing Owen Coyle when the latter left for Burnley two years ago.

The fact McInnes succeeded where Coyle failed is a major feather in his cap and Dundee United manager Craig Levein expects to see their opponents improve as the season progresses.

But he hopes they will have to wait for an upturn in fortunes as he targets a hat-trick of League Cup semi-final appearances.

He said: "Derek has done a remarkable job at St Johnstone. Owen Coyle couldn't get them out of Division One but Derek did.

"Look where Owen has ended up but it was Derek who finally won the league for them. Their performances have been very good this season and they've not had the results they deserved.

"We've had them watched several times and, of course, played them just a few weeks ago so we're not going into it cold.

"I know their team a bit better and our players are familiar with the way they play now.

"It was a great game at St Johnstone in the league and I'd expect this one to be the same.

"This cup has been good to us in recent seasons; we've done well in it and are hoping to do the same. We've done more than most teams in this competition so I'd love to see that continue."

United will have on-loan Rangers defender Andy Webster available after he recovered from flu.

Winger Jennison Myrie-Williams is carrying a calf knock but is expected to be okay while Lee Wilkie, Francisco Sandaza, Paul Dixon, Scott Robertson, Jon Daly and Kevin Smith all remain sidelined.