Callum Davidson believes his St Johnstone team will be desperate to go on another unbeaten run starting against Dunfermline on Tuesday night.
Saints suffered their first defeat in 12 games when they lost 2-1 at home to Livingston in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday.
Ahead of the Betfred Cup quarter-final against the Championship side in Fife, Davidson spoke with confidence about his side’s character.
He said: “We suffered a wee bit of a setback at the start of the season and then went on an 11-game unbeaten run so I know the character of the players.
“I know they will be hurting. I don’t really need to point it out to them, they know a draw would have probably been a fair result in the Livingston game.
“I think they are desperate to start a run again. I was probably pretty grumpy myself yesterday. It is two months since I lost a game.
“I thought the work-rate and effort was there from the players.
“I just didn’t think we had enough quality when we had the ball and we got punished with poor goals to lose.
“Runs always come to an end and it is how you get on with it.
“We have massive games coming up. It is great that we’ve got a game on Tuesday night, especially a quarter-final of the cup and a chance to get to the semi-final.
“Everyone will be pretty annoyed yesterday but I think it will be forgotten about today.
“There are some tough games and big games coming up so I think everybody is ready for the fight.”
Davidson, who was previously a coach at Dunfermline under manager Stevie Crawford, is expecting a difficult night against the Fifers, who lost their first game of the season to Morton on Saturday and sit four points behind Hearts at the top of the table.
He said: “Working with Stevie a couple of years ago I know what his character is like, I know what he will be doing.
“They are a high energy team and have some good footballers too. It is going to be a tough game.
“It is a cup competition, a big game for them as well so both teams will be taking it very seriously.
“It is massive for us in terms of achieving something in players’ careers, massive financially in Covid time, it is a really important game and we are desperate to get through.”
