Jim Goodwin believes the William Hill Scottish Cup gives St Mirren the chance to again dream of cup glory.
The Irishman was skipper when the Buddies won the Betfred Cup in 2013 with a 3-2 win over Hearts in the final at Hampden Park.
Ahead of the home Scottish Cup fourth-round tie against East of Scotland side Broxburn Athletic on Saturday, the Saints manager admitted that success can act as an incentive for another run in a “magnificent” competition.
He said: “When we won the League Cup in 2013, the fact that we go to Pittodrie and beat Aberdeen and beat Celtic in the semi-final at Hampden, that was probably the biggest upset that I have been part of.
“The Scottish Cup is magnificent, it is a great competition and it gives everybody an opportunity to dream if you like.
“We are no different to anyone else. You have to look to get through this next round, hope the draw is kind to you and you just never know.”
Goodwin knows his side have to handle the level of expectation against an underdog who will be backed by 1,600 fans.
He said: “Broxburn will approach the game probably in the same way we go about approaching Celtic and Rangers in terms of sitting deep, denying space and making life difficult as much as they can.
“It will be difficult to break them down but we should have enough quality in the starting line-up to do the business.
“But I am sure the Broxburn players will not be coming here for a day out, they will be coming here hoping to maybe nick a replay and bring us back to their place.”
Goodwin has added Conor McCarthy, compatriot Jamie McGrath and Akin Famewo to his squad during the transfer window.
The former Alloa boss is looking to bring in a couple of more players but not 20-year-old Rangers winger Glenn Middleton who spent the first half of the season on loan at Hibernian.
He said: “We did make an enquiry for Glenn in the summer but unfortunately he chose to go to Hibs and that was that.
“We have moved on since then and it wouldn’t be something that we would be looking to do this window.
“We are talking to one or two others at the moment, hoping to get them over the line. I don’t want it dragging on until the window closes.
“We are not desperate to get anybody else in but the one or two we are speaking to are very good and would make us better in the second half of the season.”
