'We are here on merit' - Liam Gordon says St Johnstone have proved they can mix it with some of the best in Europe as they eye more history

Liam Gordon believes bringing European group stage football to McDiarmid Park could be regarded as an even greater achievement for St Johnstone than last season’s historic domestic cup double.

St Johnstone defender Liam Gordon pictured during the second leg of the Europa League qualifier against Galatasaray at McDiarmid Park on August 12. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

Callum Davidson’s side travel to Austria for the first leg of their Europa Conference League play-off round tie against LASK Linz in Klagenfurt on Thursday evening.

Saints defender Gordon is bullish about their prospects after running Turkish giants Galatasaray close in the third qualifying round of the Europa League.

“The cup double was something that was incredible and it will always go down as one of the biggest achievements in the club’s history,” said Gordon.

“But if you were to say ‘Where do you go from last season?’, then I certainly think that something like this could be up there with it — if not top it.

“To give the St Johnstone fans European group games every few Thursdays up until Christmas, that would be something nobody would ever have thought would have been possible.

“So that is probably the next step after what we achieved last season and it’s exciting. We had an opportunity to do that last Thursday against Galatasaray and we just fell short. It’s even better that we have another chance to do it and we are going to give it everything.”

LASK, who finished fourth in the Austrian Bundesliga last season, have a solid recent pedigree in Europe. They reached the last 16 of the Europa League in 2019-20 and made it to the group stage of the same competition again last season.

But Gordon insists St Johnstone belong on the same stage and should display no sense of an inferiority complex after the manner in which they went toe-to-toe with Galatasaray for long spells.

“We went over to Istanbul for the first leg against Galatasaray with the mindset of doing the best we possibly could,” added the 25-year-old.

“We wanted to enjoy the experience. But after the first 20 minutes, we thought there was no reason why we couldn’t take a good result back home.

“We got the 1-1 draw and, even at home, we had lots of good play and chances. Galatasaray were just clinical and that is what you are up against.

“But we need to keep remembering that we are here on merit. We know we are a good side. These European sides are at an elite level but we more than back ourselves. We know we can hurt teams.

“This is a platform to prove yourself, not just personally but as a team. You want to be playing against the best all of the time, testing yourself and seeing how close you are to them.

“Playing against some of the household names that Galatasaray had last week was exciting. As a player, it was interesting because you see that you can mix it and that you aren’t far away.

“I think there is expectation now – people can see what we can do. We put expectations on ourselves too. We are not just here to take part.

“We want to go to the next round and play European football until Christmas. We want to test ourselves. If we go about our business the way we have been doing, there is no reason why we can’t bring something back to Perth.”

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