St Johnstone are currently second in the First Division and should they win their games in hand they are not quite out of the promotion race. Perhaps more pertinent is their 90 minute record against SPL teams this season.
They have beaten Falkirk, Rangers and Dundee United and drawn with Hibs. To put this in perspective, had these been league games they would have taken ten points while our take from the corresponding fixtures would be four. They are at least hampered by injury and suspension but the likes of Kevin James and Jason Scotland can potentially cause us problems. However, there is no point in going over the top - this pair, and the majority of St Johnstone's side, are in
As for us, Maurice Malpas has an abundance of recent quarter final failures to point at in an attempt to keep us from becoming complacenent. St Johnstone dispatched us with minimal fuss in 1999 and in 2004, lower league Inverness scored early then put up the shutters. Even going back to 1991 our home quarter final was a massive let down and it was only subsequent events that glossed over that dire game.
Lasley, O'Donnell and McLean are, of course, still out but they have been for months and we now have a reasonably settled side. The big question in terms of fitness is whether Darren Smith will have shaken off an ankle knock but with Molloy and McGarry in reserve we do have cover down the right flank. Now is not the time to shuffle around the midfield and gamble on untested ideas so Fitzpatrick and Paterson will keep their spots despite slightly unconvincing performances of late. The other key issue will be whether or not McCormack keeps his place instead of Clarkson alongside McDonald. There is little denying he deserved his chance in the side as Clarkson has been underperforming but he didn't exactly grab his opportunity with both hands at Love Street. Of course he is still on the journey back from injury but a quarter final is not the place to be nursing someone back to fitness. Clarkson has also caused problems for Airdrie and Morton this year and he will have fond memories of his cup goals against St Johnstone in 2004.
It would be easy to overload on cliches here but these phrases usually have some merit. At the end of the day we can only be grateful for a home draw against a lower league side. If every player performs to their full potential, we will progress. But with Motherwell it is rarely as simple as that. We want to go through at the first time of asking though and despite some very edgy moments we will hopefully manage a 2-1 win.
Remember the last time we played St Johnstone in the cup? Report here.