PRESS CONFERENCE TEXT (TOMMY WRIGHT & MURRAY DAVIDSON)

Tommy Wright and Murray Davidson spoke to the local Yerevanian press before their pre match training session at the Republican Stadium.

TOMMY WRIGHT

Given the long journey from Scotland, will your team be tired going into this match?

No. We had a good flight. We left a day early and we had a good flight. We had a good night’s sleep, a rest today and training tonight. So, no we’re not tired.

What do you expect from Alashkert?

First of all, I think the match is going to be a tough game. I think they have strength and have brought in seven new players. So, we expect a tough game. We have some footage of them from last season and they play some good football. In particular their two strikers are dangerous players. So we’re expecting a tough game but we enter every game thinking we can win it and that’s how we’re going to approach it.

How did you feel when you were drawn against Alashkert?

We think it’s a difficult draw but we feel we can win the tie. We’ve went to Rosenborg and won, we’ve beaten Luzern in two legs so we have good experience in Europe but we don’t underestimate the opposition. We have prepared well and look forward to a tough game and looking forward to hopefully getting a positive result tomorrow night to take back to Scotland.

How much do you know about Armenian football?

I don’t know a lot about Armenian football but I do know that as a country that the level has improved, the national team has improved and pushed Portugal close quite recently and so I think your league is improving, and your national team is improving. It’s a good standard and is continually looking to get better. They want to play football in the right way and play a passing game. I haven’t seen a lot of Armenian football but from what I’ve seen it’s really improved over the last number of years.

What are St. Johnstone’s best qualities?

I think first of all that there is good ability in the squad, and a lot of experience in terms of playing in Europe the last three seasons. I think discipline will be important, how we press and when we press. But I think being away from home in European competitions you must be disciplined and that’s what we’ll try and be. So hopefully we’ll give ourselves a platform to build on and go on and win the game.

Did you know St. Johnstone are the first Scottish club to play in Armenia?

No, I didn’t know that. It’s nice to be the first and we’ve been looked after really well. People here have really welcomed us and the hotel we’re staying at has looked after us really well. So far we’ve enjoyed our trip to Armenia and all we need to do now is go and get a result.

Scottish football isn’t as strong as it once was, why do you think that is?

I think the national team under Gordon Strachan has picked up. I think the Scottish game has suffered because a lot of finance has gone out of the game. And also the English Premier League has attracted massive finance over the television deals it gets so Scottish clubs aren’t competing in the same market they did years ago to get the best players in England and Europe. But I think there’s been an improvement in the Scottish clubs over the last few seasons and hopefully that can continue.

Do you think St. Johnstone are the favourites?

I think we will be the slight favourites because we’ve had more experience in Europe but I know from experiences before when we played Minsk two seasons ago and were favourites and didn’t go through. So we won’t take the game lightly, and can’t afford to take the game lightly so we will give the opposition every bit of respect they deserve. We know we have to play well to win the game. I do believe if we play well then we will win the game - but we must play well.

MURRAY DAVIDSON

Would you prefer to be playing at home in the first leg, rather than in Armenia?

I think its probably a slight advantage being here first because we’re looking to go into the game tomorrow and look to get a positive result to take into the second leg when we’ll be at home.

How much do you know about Armenian football?

I had a quick look on the internet and saw that their national team’s world ranking is improving. As the manager said, they’ve had some positive results so as a country and as club teams they’ll be looking to keep that going. So we’re expecting a very tough game.

Are you confident of winning tomorrow?

We’ve got a lot of experience in Europe, this being our fourth season in it now. We’ve had a lot of good European games and the squad is experienced enough to know if we don’t play well we won’t win games so it’s up to us to go out in both legs and focus on ourselves. If we do we know what we’re capable of and I’m confident we’ll get a positive result.