Shaun Rooney hopes his Hampden heroics can help him cement a place in the St Johnstone team after overcoming a difficult start to his Perth career.
Rooney won man of the match in Saturday’s Betfred Cup semi-final win over Hibernian after scoring Saints’ second goal and setting up the third.
The former Inverness defender had a difficult full debut against Kilmarnock in August and gifted the opening goal by failing to deal with a long ball, before his team-mates fought back to win with him off the park.
Danny McNamara’s form at right wing-back further narrowed his chances before the loan player returned to Millwall this month, but Rooney had taken his chance in Betfred Cup games and performed well in central defence when needed.
Now he is looking to make his natural position his own ahead of the final against Livingston on February 28.
“I have played in every game in the competition so far so obviously I want to mark myself in the team and play in the final as well,” he said ahead of Wednesday’s Scottish Premiership visit of Aberdeen.
“Kilmarnock was a difficult game for me looking back on it. I always want to do better.
“I just got my head down after that game and started working harder than ever in training.
“I could probably have done better against Kelty Hearts in the first game but after that, I started finding my feet a lot more and got my confidence back. Whenever I was needed in the league I thought I did well.
“But obviously we had Danny and Jason (Kerr) coming back from injury and suspension so I couldn’t really cement my place in the team.
“I want to make (wing-back) my own position. Obviously we have Broony (James Brown) in from Millwall as well so it’s a tough challenge for me. Hopefully I can keep on going.”
Rooney is determined to build on the Hampden win.
“We have got to do it on Wednesday night as well,” he said. “There’s no point doing it in a one-off game and then getting beat on Wednesday.
“We have got to keep that run going. We hope to be challenging the top six so hopefully we can go on.”
Saints boss Calum Davidson has shown he is keen to move forward from the Hampden win by bringing in winger Glenn Middleton on loan from Rangers.
Davidson said: “He’s a player with enormous potential and he has something different which we don’t have in the squad.
“There was interest from other clubs but I’m delighted he chose to come to St Johnstone. We play a similar style with our front three to Rangers, the way we press, so I think it’s a good fit for him.
“Obviously we had a great result on Saturday so he needs to come in firing, he needs to prove a point and he wants to play.
“He has looked good in training, he is sharp, he can go past people, so it’s quite exciting to get him up to game fitness and he can produce some great performances for us.”
