Pressure is all on Hibs, insists David Wotherspoon

St Johnstone midfielder David Wotherspoon believes former club Hibernian will be facing all the pressure ahead of their League Cup semi-final meeting.

David Wotherspoon has flourished since leaving Easter Road for McDiarmid Park. Picture: SNS

Saints go into the game as the higher-division team but Wotherspoon has experienced the expectations at Easter Road and feels that will transmit to the Hibs players ahead of Saturday’s clash at Tynecastle.

The 26-year-old said: “I feel they will be under pressure. They will have the pressure against them.

“They are talking about a treble, so I’ve heard. They are in the Scottish Cup, the semi-final of the League Cup and are second in the Championship. They can believe but we will be looking to stop them this weekend.

“They’re a big club, no doubt about it. They had 10,000 fans at the weekend, which is more than most clubs in the Premiership.

“They are definitely a big club and the pressure will be on them to win silverware and go back up.”

Wotherspoon has thrived since leaving Hibs in 2013, winning the Scottish Cup in his first season in Perth. While Saints have been a regular fixture in the top six, his old club were relegated a year after he departed.

“As soon as I came here I felt there wasn’t as much pressure and it allowed me to express myself a wee bit more,” said Wotherspoon, who made more than 150 appearances for Hibs.

“It’s been great since I’ve been here. It’s a great club and we have shown people we can be fighting up there at the top of the league.

“We have had good cup runs as well so it’s just been a great place to play.”

While expectations are not as high in Perth, Wotherspoon has relished the chance to exceed them and prove sceptics wrong.

“I feel that was the case when we played Aberdeen in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup (in 2014), everyone wrote us off and we were underdogs,” he said.

“We showed our fight, especially in the second half, and we went on to win the game.

“I think that’s the case this weekend. People will be looking towards Hibs and hopefully we can just go out and play our game.

“I’m just focused on our game. We haven’t won a game in the last seven and only scored once so we have to put that right.”

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