MORE POST PARS REACTION
Last updated : 30 October 2003 By Richard Jones
Billy Stark
wants to build from Tuesday night for the clash against Queen of the South on Saturday:
"I have not given the draw a second thought because we have such a big match coming up on Saturday. That is what we are focusing on now and it would be nice to keep the momentum going for that one. But it is not a matter of underplaying the win over Dunfermline as it was terrific and an important one for us in lots of way. We produced the goods at McDiarmid Park against a Premier league side and the supporters would have enjoyed it in a big way. I will obviously be interested in who we get in the next round but the league is the main thing for us,"
Man of the match, Keigan Parker is delighted to be through:
"Everybody is delighted with the win. It's a real morale booster for a First Division side to claim the scalp of an SPL team. There was no pressure on St Johnstone to get a result but we went out there and proved that we were more than a match for them. It was never a 3-2 game and a few of the boys were disappointed to concede two late goals we ended up doing it the hard way. But we have quality players and most of them have been in the SPL and this is the kind of opposition you like to face. Our priority is to win the First Division and get back to the SPL and this will do our confidence no harm.'"
"Simon and Paul have performed at the top level and are class players. Playing up front alongside Mixu Paatelainen has also been a great help to me and Peter MacDonald. Now we are just delighted to be in the last eight of the CIS Cup we will play anyone on the back of that result.''
Simon Donnelly would like to draw one of the Old Firm.
"I am loving every minute of my time at St Johnstone. That main reason for coming here was regular first-team football. It was not all doom and gloom at Hillsborough and I had good moments there. But Billy Stark has given me the platform to play regularly and it has been hard to adjust to that and the pace of Scottish football. I'm enjoying it now though and we saw the difference with an SPL team such as Dunfermline coming here and giving us space in which to play which we exploited. A lot of teams come to McDiarmid Park and sit in but we showed we can compete with a team at that level. We're having to live with the pressure of being promotion favourites but we are just two points off the top and undefeated in five matches. I'd love to draw one of the big two in the last eight and a return to Parkhead or Ibrox would be great. A tie with Celtic would be pretty special.'"
