ST JOHNSTONE midfielder Liam Craig admits he and his Perth colleagues will all become Celtic fans for the day as they pray the Hoops keep their European hopes alive on Sunday.
The McDiarmid outfit stumbled into the Ladbrokes Premiership's top six on Saturday after a 3-0 defeat at Kilmarnock. A win would have confirmed their place but in the end Tommy Wright's men had Ross County and Hamilton to thank for shooting down rivals Partick and Dundee.
Now, they are shaping up for a three-way fight for fourth place with Motherwell and the Staggies. And the winners of that scrap could even end up with a Europa League invitation - but only if champions-elect Celtic go on to win the William Hill Scottish Cup.
Now, Craig has confessed he will be cheering on Ronny Deila's side when they take on Old Firm foes Rangers in next weekend's semi-final clash: "Motherwell, ourselves and Ross County will all believe they can finish fourth and we'll all want Celtic to win the Scottish Cup," he said.
"As a player, you love these European adventures. Just look at what this club has achieved with its trips to Rosenburg, Luzern and even Alashkert last season. They were great trips for the fans and we want another sample of that next season. Hopefully Celtic can win the Scottish Cup and we can hold up our end of the bargain by finishing fourth."
Saints were stunned at Rugby Park when Kris Boyd's double and a second-half header from Kallum Higginbotham handed them a heavy defeat. Craig thought he had given his side a lifeline at 2-0 when he headed past Jamie MacDonald - only to see the goal ruled out by referee Crawford Allan for a push on defender Mark O'Hara.
Craig was upset with the call but admitted Killie merited their win: "I don't think there was a lot wrong with my goal," he said.
"The ref said I pushed the boy in the back and yes there is contact but it is an aerial challenge and sometimes you need to use your arms. I felt the defender lost track of me, I got goal-side and scored.
"It was disappointing as that goal might have got us back into the match but Killie probably deserved to win. We'll just pick ourselves up now and hopefully go again in the last five games of the season."
Rugby Park frontman Boyd was thrilled to grab the win which now gives them an eight-point cushion over basement boys Dundee United. Lee Clark's side remain in the play-off spot though, four points adrift of Accies and outright safety.
But Boyd believes the training methods introduced by new boss Clark will mean they are in great shape for the run-in: "The performances have been a lot better, the energy levels have been a lot better since the new manager came in. We're training at a high tempo and now we're taking that into our games," he said.
"We took Celtic right to the last minute and should have won against Partick last week. But on Saturday we were still going strong in the 90th minute, pressing high and causing St Johnstone problems. So our fitness levels have improved and hopefully by doing that we can give ourselves the best chance of staying up."
