Manager excited for quarter-final clash

The club is back in Betfred Cup action tomorrow night when champions Celtic visit McDiarmid Park in the quarter-finals.

Both sides suffered defeats at the weekend and will be keen to bounce back in the match which will be shown live on BT Sport with a 7:45PM kick-off.

Tommy Wright's men progressed to the quarter-final stage after a 4-2 (AET) victory at Queen of the South last month, while Celtic had to overcome Partick Thistle in the last round.

The game comes quickly after Sunday's disappointment at Ibrox but the manager insists that gives his players the perfect opportunity to bounce back and put in a good performance.

"Football gives you opportunities quickly to get over disappointments," Tommy said, "and that's exactly what we're going to try and do tomorrow.

"We've now got a chance to reach a semi-final and everybody is really looking forward to it.

"It's a quick turnaround and the players didn't do much yesterday at training - it was just a recovery session and we went over the game from the day before. We'll do a little bit more today and we'll be working on areas that we think we can hurt Celtic.

"We're obviously disappointed from Sunday but in professional sport you have to get over things quickly, learn from them, and then move on."

The visitors come into the game off the back of a 2-1 defeat to Kilmarnock and there has been suggestions that Brendan Rodgers is under a little bit of pressure following the champions' start to the 2018/19 campaign.

Tommy Wright has backed his countryman but he does hope to use the negativity surrounding Celtic's recent form to his advantage tomorrow.

"I listened to the news last night and the headline was can Brendan Rodgers survive at Celtic," Tommy said.

"I find it ridiculous that's being said so early in the season, particularly when you look at what Brendan has achieved at Celtic with back-to-back double trebles.

"It has been an indifferent start to the season from them though and hopefully we can use that in our favour tomorrow.

"It's a great game for us and one where nobody will be expecting us to get a victory. It allows us to play with a bit less pressure.

"Make no mistake though they will be hurting after Sunday and they'll want to come out and make a statement too. I think Brendan will select his strongest team possible for the match and I don't expect them to rest players."

With the club potentially just two games away from the final, the manager says that there is a buzz around the camp going in to the clash at McDiarmid Park on Wednesday evening.

"Cup games at night under the floodlights definitely adds something special to the occasion," he said.

"Particularly when you're playing the bigger clubs and they bring a big crowd, night games generate a great atmosphere. Add to that the fact the game is live on TV too and it does create a lot of excitement among the players.

"Everybody is looking forward to it and we'll be raring to go when the whistle sounds tomorrow evening."

On the injury front, Murray Davidson and Brian Easton remain sidelined. Drey Wright has recovered from a knock and is fit to play, while Liam Gordon is also available having come through a Reserve game yesterday.

Danny Swanson is currently being assessed and the manager has said the midfielder is "touch and go" for tomorrow's match.

A reminder on ticket information for this match can be found here.