St Johnstone captain Liam Gordon is determined to keep the Scottish Cup and Premier Sports Cup on display at McDiarmid Park for as long as possible.
Callum Davidson’s side made club history and stunned Scottish football last season by bringing both domestic cups to Perth.
Ahead of the Premier Sports Cup semi-final against Celtic at Hampden Park on Saturday, Gordon revealed he is far from ready to relinquish the trophies which act as a constant reminder of a remarkable and never-to-be-forgotten campaign.
The 25-year-old defender said: “I see them every time I come to training, they are just sitting in the reception.
“I don’t want to see them go any time soon.
“So we will be trying our hardest to keep them in the trophy cabinet that sits in the reception for a long time.
“Hopefully we can get to another final and retain it.
“We have another opportunity to write the history books, defending the League Cup.
“It is a kind of surreal feeling, being a St Johnstone fan, not just a player, that we have that opportunity.
“No one could have predicted last season.
“It was almost fairy tale stuff but it starts to become reality because you have the chance to defend it and we are back in the semi-finals where we were last year so we have that opportunity to continue the success we had.
“It is an exciting time for the club and hopefully we can get to another final.”
Gordon was named successor to departed Jason Kerr as Saints captain last month and looks forward to leading the team out at the national stadium.
He said: “It will be an incredible honour for me. To lead out the team you support at Hampden is something that you can only dream of growing up as a kid.
“It will obviously be a massive moment for me but it won’t feel so good if we don’t get the result.
“It will be a nice touch for me and my family but I am more focused on the result than leading the team out.”
St Johnstone’s four games at Hampden Park last season – two semi-finals and two finals – were played behind closed doors due to Covid-19 restrictions and Gordon is relishing the prospect of a packed stadium on Saturday.
He said: “I am just delighted that the fans are getting back in.
“We will have enough fans through there and we will hopefully hear them over the Celtic fans.
“I am just looking forward to playing in front of a full house at Hampden as are all the boys regardless of how many fans we have got and they have got, it will be a great atmosphere and great to see.
“We have been there, we have done it before, we know what it takes so we are going into this game full of confidence.
“We know our strengths and that is something we obviously will try to utilise so we are looking forward to it.
“We did well in the cups last year so hopefully we can carry that on this season.”
