Kilmarnock head to Stenhousemuir on Scottish Cup duty this afternoon, and Tommy Wright knows how big a game it is for his side.
The Rugby Park gaffer has plenty of experience in the competition, including winning it with St Johnstone, so he knows how to deal with the pressure.
But he insists they will be treating this match like any other and won't be taking their foot off of the gas.
Here's what Wright had to say before the match yesterday:
Did the international break come at the worst time?
"You can look at it that way, but we always know it's coming so you just need to deal with it.
"There's not a lot you can do about it, you always plan what you're going to do and that didn't change.
"Ideally you want to keep playing after a good win, but we know when the breaks are going to be when the season starts."
Beneficial in some ways to get them training?
"To be fair the players have responded well to everything we have done, they have picked up very quickly what we want them to do.
"We have dominated possession in a lot of the games we have played.
"We haven't made the most of that in some games, but the last few games we have scored goals which is important.
"We need to continue that theme and be as positive as we can."
You've had great memories in the Scottish Cup, do you still get that buzz before a game?
"Yeah I do, we have talked all week about the importance of the cup.
"It's not easy, but if you win five games then you win the trophy, glory and legendary status.
"Cups are massive for clubs our size, we have a massive opportunity to progress as we are playing a lower league team.
"But I have been drilling it into the players that they can't be complacent, we must always show teams we play the utmost respect.
"If we were playing Rangers this weekend the preparation would have been exactly the same in terms of detail that we go into to get the result.
You'll be wary of Stenhousemuir especially after Brora Rangers beating Hearts?
“That is something as players and managers we’ve all been involved in, cup upsets. Generally it happens because maybe your attitude isn’t right or maybe you become a little bit complacent.
“That is something we have mentioned every day and training has been of a high tempo. We’ll try and be as positive as we can and go and impose ourselves on the opposition, but at the same time, you have to be respectful of Stenhousemuir.
“They got a great result in the last round going up to Peterhead which is never easy and results like Brora’s does give players a reminder that shocks do happen in cup football.”
Is the cup a welcome distraction from the league due to your position?
“We know the fixtures. It’s just a game and we want to build momentum. Hopefully it’s a chance to progress in the cup and we want to get two wins in a row and take that into Ross County.
“It’s important in terms of going through to the next round and also for keeping the momentum going and building on the result against Motherwell.
This game gives you a good opportunity to get that first clean sheet
A disappointing thing since we’ve come in is that we haven’t had a clean sheet, but, no matter the opposition, you have to do things right and earn that by making sure you are solid with defenders doing their jobs.
“That’s the next step for us. Keeping a lot more clean sheets.”
