St Johnstone boss Simo Valakari has provided an interesting preview ahead of this Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden, where his side will face Celtic.

It’s a game that promises to be full of drama, particularly after St Johnstone’s shock 1-0 victory over the Hoops just a couple of weeks ago in the league.

Valakari’s comments have certainly caught attention, as he aims to remain grounded despite the confidence boost gained from that recssent win.

The Finnish manager has been quick to downplay the idea that Celtic will come out with vengeance in mind.

He said: (RecordSport), “People will be thinking we beat Celtic at home, they’re angry now so they’ll kick our asses.

“But I see it the other way around. If they’d hammered us at home, we wouldn’t be going into this weekend with confidence. The way it’s worked out, our players know what’s possible. Of course, we know what Celtic can do to teams. You saw it last weekend.

“But we’ve shown what can happen. You will need some great saves from the keeper, you will need the defence to work properly and some luck in certain moments and when the chances come, you have to take them.

“But rather than thinking it’s not possible because we won last time, I think about it the other way. The last game gave us an understanding of what’s needed – and a feeling that we can do it.

“After the game a couple of weeks ago you saw why Celtic are champions. They have been ruthless this season but they didn’t look for excuses. They respected the game and looked at themselves.

“Obviously that means it will be harder to get close to Celtic’s players but let’s think positively about how it can help us too.”

Valakari is a very level-headed manager and will know exactly what Celtic can do at their best, with the Hoops already having beaten the Saints 4-0 at home and 6-0 away this season.

Celtic know that anything but their best may not be enough at Hampden on Sunday, but as last Saturday’s 5-1 win over Kilmarnock showed, if the Hoops are in the form, no one in the country can compete with them.

But that is the challenge for Brendan Rodgers: to keep the team playing at that level week in, week out, something he was able to do in large part for the first six months of the season.

Sunday’s game is huge for Celtic’s season in their pursuit of a domestic treble, and having lost to St Johnstone recently, it adds that extra motivation knowing that they can cause them problems.