St Johnstone boss Simo Valakari has reacted to his side drawing Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-finals, acknowledging that they’ve been handed the toughest possible opponent but insisting his team will relish the challenge.

The Perth side secured their spot at Hampden thanks to a stunning long-range strike from former Celtic man Graham Carey, sending them past Livingston and into the last four.

For Valakari, the cup run is a moment to savour, but has said that the side won;t dwell on past glories after they won the cup in 2021.

Speaking after the draw, he said: [The Courier]

“This cup is all about dreaming.

“We enjoy tonight and as Barry Douglas said to our boys in the dressing room afterwards, you can play a long career and never play in a semi-final at the national stadium.

“It’s a beautiful day.

“When you get to the semi-finals you know there will be tough opponents.

“Maybe we got the toughest of them all. But we need to face it and go and enjoy it.

“The last Scottish Cup win is in the history of our club.

“Everyone knows that.

“We want to write our names into history as well.

“We will enjoy tonight and then think about the semi-final when it comes.

“It’s back to the Premiership before then.

“This is a big positive thing to look forward to. We deserve to be in the semi-final and nobody can take that away from us – we are there.”

For now, though, his focus will be on the Premiership survival battle, where St Johnstone sit just three points off 11th-placed Dundee. If they finish there, they would face a play-off to stay in the top flight.

Since taking over in October, Valakari has steadied the ship, but results remain inconsistent. He has only faced Celtic once in charge—a 4-0 defeat at Parkhead—and he knows his side will need to be at their very best to pull off a Hampden upset.

Celtic will be looking forward to the occasion as they set out to defend their trophy, and look to complete a 9th treble.