St Johnstone prepare for Saturday’s visit to Celtic Park in the knowledge that they will face a free-scoring Celtic side, who are massively improved upon the side that they faced last year. The Double-winners, who sealed the League and Scottish Cups in the 2020/21 season, will go into the semi-final against Celtic next month as underdogs. However, goalkeeper Zander Clark is focusing on continuing the success of Callum Davidson’s side at Hampden.
Speaking to PLZ Soccer, Clark said that the semi-final at Hampden will be a special occasion but it will be a tough game for the Saints.
“That semi-final will be another special occasion. There will be fans in attendance this time so it will be a way for them to get back to Hampden.
“We are under no illusions. It will be a very difficult game for us but we’ll go into it and try to feed off our achievements last season — that mindset to get the best result possible, make it to another final and try to retain the cup.”
Saints lost Ali McCann and Jason Kerr in the final days of the transfer window and failed to adequately replace the quality of the pair. With that said, Davidson has proven that he is willing and able to deal with the squad at his disposal. It will be an interesting contest at Hampden next month but the immediate concern for Celtic is this Saturday’s game.
Celtic go into the game with a nice run of form under their belt but the stubborn Saints will certainly provide a stern task for the Celts.
