Cup bonus row played down by Gus MacPherson

Published on Tuesday 9 February 2010 22:30

ST MIRREN manager Gus MacPherson insists he has no fears about his players' focus despite reports of a row over bonuses with club directors.

Saints players were apparently furious at earning less for beating Hearts to book their place in the Co-operative Insurance Cup final than the amount they received for seeing off Motherwell in the previous round.

It has also been claimed they prevented directors from joining in the celebrations after reaching their first major final in 23 years by locking the dressing room door following the win over the Edinburgh side last Tuesday.

MacPherson has confirmed a meeting took place with the board two weeks ago but has denied his players were "at war" with club bosses.

And he believes recent matches – such as that cup win and last week's draw with Rangers in the Active Nation Scottish Cup – proves he need not be concerned about tensions spilling over into the games. "It's not a worry because it happened a couple of weeks ago and we have had four games since then," said MacPherson. "There has been a positive reaction from the players. It's not a concern at all."

With one cup final against Rangers to look forward to already, as well as another replay against the Ibrox side in a bid to reach the last eight of the Scottish Cup, this could be a memorable season in terms of cup campaigns for the Paisley club.

But, echoing the comments made by his assistant Andy Millen following Saturday's game, MacPherson insists the SPL remains the priority after securing their top-flight status on the final day last term.

"Everybody connected with the club would understand how important the SPL is," he said ahead of tonight's league clash with St Johnstone.

Meanwhile, St Johnstone manager Derek McInnes believes it will be "easy" to pick up his players following their consecutive cup exits.

"It was disappointing to go out of both competitions but we lost to two very good sides (Dundee Utd and Rangers]."

McInnes has captain Kevin Rutkiewicz and striker Collin Samuel returning to action after recovering from knee injuries, so will reshuffle his side which he believes has suffered from "heavy legs" in recent weeks.

"Both players are highly influential players for us. Collin is still the top scorer and Kevin played a huge part in our success last year," McInnes said.