Jim Goodwin is desperate to lead his Buddies back to Hampden - so he can make amends for their gutting League Cup semi-final loss to Livingston.
St Mirren take on in-form Inverness Caley Thistle in Paisley tomorrow night hoping to seal a safe passage through to the last eight of the Scottish Cup.
Goodwin is determined to make it to the final four of the competition to give the Saints another crack at reaching a major final this season.
Speaking candidly about that disappointing 1-0 defeat to Livingston in January, Goodwin admits he wishes he’d set his team up with more emphasis on taking the game to David Martindale’s troops.
He told Express Sport: “Getting back to Hampden would go some way to making up for the disappointments we’ve had in the Betfred Cup and the league.
“I don’t think we gave a true reflection of the team we are capable of being when we played Livingston.
“As manager, I take responsibility for that in the way I set my players up.
“I would love the opportunity to return to Hampden in the semi-final and be a bit braver and more expansive in our approach and really take the game to the opposition, regardless of who we are playing.
“Credit to Livingston. They are a very hard team to break down when they get their noses in front. So it certainly wasn’t through a lack of effort.
“Our mindset right now is giving ourselves a really good chance to go and win a cup.
“It’s not just about getting to the semis and even the final, it’s about can we go all the way and win something?
“That would be a great way to finish off the season.”
While the draw has opened up slightly for the Buddies, especially in terms of missing out on either of the Old Firm sides before reaching the semi-final stage, Goodwin insists his side won’t be treating Neil McCann’s Championship side with anything other than full respect at the SMISA Stadium.
He believes the magic of the Scottish Cup means no team is guaranteed to make it through to the next stage, with Hearts having been knocked out by Brora Rangers earlier in the competition and several Premiership teams having survived some scares along the way.
Goodwin said: “Whether we’re playing Premiership teams or those from a lower league, we always show them the same respect.
“Neil has them well organised and they’re playing very good football. Plus they have one or two really impressive young lads.
“I’d expect them to set up in a similar fashion as they did against Ross County — they’re a counter-attacking team with pace in the wide areas. But we’ve got through these kinds of ties in the past because we never underestimate the opposition.
“We only need to look back at the early BetFred Cup ties this season, when Queen of the South and Morton were both level with us after 90 minutes. Without being disrespectful to them, I think Inverness are a slightly better side.
“You just have to look at how difficult Dumbarton and Partick Thistle made life for Aberdeen and Dundee United in the last round.
"If we have a repeat of the performance against Motherwell we give ourselves a really good chance.”
