Callum Davidson says he can use his experience of dumping Rangers out of the Scottish Cup in 2021 to inspire his Queen’s Park team to a victory.
The 48-year-old made history for St Johnstone in 2020-21 when he won both domestic cup competitions with the McDiarmid Park outfit, beating Livingston and Hibernian in the Hampden Park finals 1–0 respectively.
On the way to Scottish Cup glory and against the odds, the Perth side knocked out the Light Blues in Govan in a penalty shoot-out, after 120 minutes had ended in a 1-1 draw.
Davidson’s side travel to Ibrox again on Sunday to face Phillipe Clement’s Rangers looking to book themselves a place in the quarter-finals. Queen’s Park are sitting in fifth place in the Championship, but despite being the underdogs heading to Ibrox, Davidson says his side will try to attack Rangers as often as possible.
Looking back at that historic night, the Spiders boss, who took over at the Championship side in January 2024, said: “I do remember that night quite well to be fair.
“I thought we actually played really well that night but then James Tavernier actually runs diagonally across the pitch and scores a header for Rangers at the back post on the opposite side from where he should be standing.
“I thought that was it. But we rallied really well and created a wee bit of history.
“There was no crowd at that point [due to Covid restrictions]. But it’s good memories for me.
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“I want to try and create new memories for Queen’s Park.
Davidson added: “Sometimes you go to Parkhead or Ibrox and park the bus and you get beat but sometimes you need to have a go in cup games. I think you have to try and have a go. If we concede four, five, six goals then as long as we try and have a go at doing it, sometimes you can accept it.”
“Everything has to go in our favour. We need to play at an unbelievably good level. Rangers need to be poor, and then also hopefully get that little bit of luck. So, yeah, tough game but I want the players to go out there thinking we’ve got a chance, because it is a 90-minute game of football. We’re a young team that want the run. So hopefully we can do that, and we can put Rangers under a little bit of pressure.”
The former St Johnstone manager will be hoping for a reaction after his side suffered a surprising loss to Airdrieonians who sit at the foot of the Championship. Davidson said: “I always look for reactions when we lose a game. Obviously, we’ve had some new additions to the team, which has been great, which has been needed. So, I think for me, that gives an extra level of pressure on everybody else in the team, knowing that their positions aren’t quite safe.
“The last three or four games, we’ve only had 12 or 13 players that I feel I could really pick from. But now, hopefully with the additions after this weekend, especially because a few are cup tied, we can have a real go at the end of the season.”
One of the new additions is Celtic loanee Adam Montgomery, who joins up with Davidson for the second time after a spell together at St Johnstone. His manager believes he can be a key player in the back half of the season.
“I’m just delighted we managed to get Adam through the door. I think it’s important we keep him fit because he could be a real asset for us,” he said.
Unlike in the Championship, The Spiders will have to contend with the added issue of VAR in the Scottish Cup.
Davidson said: “The only thing I do like about not having VAR in the Championship is when you score a goal and the referee gives it, it’s a goal – and you can celebrate it. When you play football, these are things you enjoy. You enjoy when somebody scores.”
