Captain Kevin Nisbet was the player who spoke with the media on Friday morning ahead of our Premier Sports Cup Semi-final.

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Our cup campaign so far

“We’ve got a good record this season in the cup, getting through to the semi-final and playing really well in the games leading up to that. But it’s a one-off game. All league form goes out the window, and it’s about who wants it more. We need to make sure that’s us."

Reflections on the last week

“It’s a mentality I’ve had throughout my full career as well (leaving previous games in the past). You go through games where it’s not quite clicking, and you need to do other stuff and try to help the team. But I back myself to go and score goals, and hopefully that’s tomorrow.

“I think when you look at the Dundee United game, I thought it was possibly our best performance of the season, if I’m completely honest. Just a couple of mistakes, and it’s not individual mistakes, it’s collective. Obviously, in the week, during midweek, we had chances to win the game.

“I think I had one, Ayoub had a couple, and obviously Brad has one as well. So we had clear-cut chances, and it’s just not going in at the moment. But you can’t dwell on that too much."

Moving on quickly

“You’ve got a Semi-final against Rangers at Hampden, and you need to put all that to bed and focus on the positives. I think everyone’s good. We’ve got a really good group in there. We’ve got people that don’t really dwell too much on the past. I’m in that kind of role where I need to pick a few people up, and that’s absolutely fine. But I think the mood in the camp is very good.

“I think there’s been a lot of outside noise, but there’s not been noise inside the camp, I think. We’re united as one, and we’re going into the semi-final with a lot of confidence.

“I think the way the fans acted after the game is justified. I think it wasn’t a great performance, and I think the responsibility stops and ends with the players. I think the gaffer’s been battered post-match all season, if I’m completely honest, and he’s taken a lot of flak for us.

“But I think that one during the week was definitely on us. I think it starts and ends with us as. So I think we owe the gaffer a performance tomorrow. We owe the fans a performance, and we owe the club a performance.

“Obviously, it’s a good catalyst to go and do well. But I think just for us, it’s about consistency. I think we’ll win one, we’ll draw one, then we’ll lose one instead of getting on a little run."

Focused on ourselves

“It’s all about tomorrow. All league form goes out the window, and it’s about who wants it more.

“It’s just all about us. It’s not about anyone else. It’s about how we go and implement our style and how we want to go and try to win the game. Hopefully, by the end of the game, we’re in the final.

“I think it really comes across as a difficult run because we’ve not put a run of two or three games together. I think it’s been kind of stop-start. It’s been kind of inconsistent. It’s not as if we’ve gone and lost four or five games in a row.

“The performance was there against United. I think it was our best performance, and I think as players, we let everyone down midweek. It was a really good game for us to go and try to win. We didn’t do that. Tomorrow is a chance to go and rectify that."

Dealing with the pressure

“I kind of like the pressure. Leading the boys out tomorrow in a semi-final is obviously a proud moment for me as well, but I need to go and back it up. I need to go and lead from the front and show everyone why I was made captain, and I’ll try to do that tomorrow.

Cup final memories

“I don’t think I touched the ball for the first 40 minutes. But I think it was a proper team, collective performance. I think everyone stuck together. Even as soon as Celtic went one up, I think everyone thought the game was done. I think everyone thought they’d go and win three or four-nil.

“But I think in semi-finals and finals, it’s about staying in the game for as long as possible. You’ve always got a chance to come back into it. Obviously, there’s only a slight few of us left, so we need to pass that experience on to the boys who haven’t really played at that stage before, just to keep them calm, keep them confident and go and try to win it again.

“I think it’s important, not just for a semi-final, but any game (getting the first goal). I think the way you start a game is how you go and try to win the game.

“Especially against Celtic and Rangers, I think the first 15, 20, 25 minutes are so important. Against teams like that, you need to put them off their rhythm, implement yourself in the game, try to get some free kicks, try to get corners, try to get their fans restless. That’s what we’re trying to do.”