John Sutton believes that tonight's match against Spartans won't be easy and says that some of the results from the Scottish Cup ties that went ahead on Saturday proves that.
The striker knows about tonight's opposition and once scored against them for St Mirren back in 2006 when the Saints beat the East of Scotland side 3-0 in a replay at Paisley after having drawn 0-0 the first match.
Yeah it's tricky," he explained. "You only have to look at the results at the weekend. I think some junior teams got a replay and certainly others ran teams pretty close. It's not going to be an easy game.
"I know from my time playing at Hearts that Spartans have a very good setup and will have a very professional outlook on it. It's up to us to go and beat that."
Sutton was speaking to stmirren.com at the St Mirren Training Complex in Ralston after picking up the IRN-BRU Golden Balls Player of the Round for his role in the 2-1 victory over Ayr United in the IRN-BRU Cup quarter-final a few weeks ago. He admitted it was frustrating not to play on Saturday as the team looked to bounce back from the loss to Dunfermline, but hopes the side can take inspiration from their form in the IRN-BRU Cup.
It was disappointed not playing on Saturday," he said. "You what a home draw in the cup which is what we got. We've gone on a good run in the IRN-BRU Cup and had some good results in there so we're hoping that the Scottish Cup will put us on a good run as well and we'll see where that takes us."
Speaking on the award from IRN-BRU, the striker said: "I'd much rather be picking up a winners medal in the final.
But it's nice that we got through the round and I'm only getting on the end of crosses that other boys are putting in the box.
"I was lucky enough to play in the last [Challenge Cup] final we won and winning that was a brilliant feeling. We're not too far away from having another shot at that."
While Sutton thinks that the addition of the Irish and Welsh sides to the competition has been a good thing, he isn't taking semi-final opponents The New Saints lightly.
I think it's been a really good idea having the Irish and Welsh teams in there. I think it adds spice to the occasion.
"You look at some of the big teams who have been out of the Premiership the last couple of years and they've not always done so well in this competition, so I think it shows how hard it is to win anything.
"We know TNS are going to be a very good side. They've dominated in Wales or certainly been at the top for many years now. It's going to be a test for us, but one we are looking forward to."
