St Mirren full-back Graham Carey looking for Scottish League Cup final redemption against Hearts

By Ewing Grahame

10:12PM GMT 10 Mar 2013

Even so, alarm bells will be ringing for manager Danny Lennon, whose side have now won only one of their last seven matches.

He is taking his squad to St Andrews this week in order to prepare for the showpiece at the national stadium, shutting them away from the media, excitable supporters and those simply seeking tickets for the big occasion.

For the vast majority of the players, this will be a new experience. For full-back Graham Carey, however, it is an opportunity for redemption.

Injuries to David Barron and Lee Mair have left him as the only survivor from the St Mirren side which lost the 2010 final to Rangers in ignominious circumstances.

Kevin Thomson and Danny Wilson were both dismissed by referee Craig Thomson but Saints were unable to break down what was left of Walter Smith’s side, who prevailed when Kenny Miller headed the only goal of the game six minutes from the end.

Carey winces when that match is mentioned. “It still gives me nightmares,” he said. “That was one which took a while to get over, especially when Rangers went down to nine men.

“We thought we'd have the legs to beat them but it wasn’t the case and it’s great that we now have this opportunity.

“It probably took me the rest of the season to get over that one. It was a tough one. It’s not very often a club like St Mirren gets to a final, especially when you think about the opportunity we had then.

“But it’s good that it’s come around again so quickly. It’s a ghost we would like to lay. We were all disappointed three years ago, especially us players.

“Many of the fans won’t remember the last time we won a final – the 1987 Scottish Cup - and most of us probably weren’t even born then.

“So we have a young squad but we do have a lot of experience and it would be good to rectify the misery we had from a few years ago.

“We have to prepare right and be at our best. It’s going to be a tough game - they have a lot of experienced players and they're bringing them back into the team now. It will be two well-matched teams so that’s good for the neutrals as well.

“Hampden is not a bogey ground for us at the minute and hopefully we can keep that going. Both teams will go into it fairly confident so it will be good.”

Good was not the adjective which sprung to mind to describe the goalless, soulless encounter with Dundee United.

The home side, who have failed to win any of their last 12 home games against the Tayside club, failed to threaten at any stage while Craig Samson made one outstanding reflex save to deny Michael Gardyne in the 71st minute.

As the match petered out United’s John Rankin was shown a straight red card for a challenge on John McGinn, a penalty United manager Jackie McNamara is considering appealing against.

“It was one of those games - there was a lot of good football but nothing really happened in either final third so it’s good that we have the final next because we’ve been thinking about it for a couple of weeks,” said Carey.

“Most importantly, it was good to get through the game with no fresh injuries.”

Club captain Jim Goodwin, who has missed the last four games due to a calf injury, was “very close” to facing United according to Lennon and the Irishman should be available to lead his team out at Hampden.

Dundee United’s new signing, Rory Boulding, made only his second start of a troubled campaign on Saturday. The 24-year-old joined Kilmarnock from Livingston last summer but made no impact at Rugby Park.

Boulding eventually became so frustrated with being a peripheral figure that in January he asked the Ayrshire club to tear up the remaining two-and-a-half years of his contract and release him.

The striker claims he has no idea why his Kilmarnock career failed to catch fire.

“I definitely feel I didn’t get a chance to show what I could do at Kilmarnock - I mean, I only started one game,” he said. “I’ve no idea why it worked out like that.

“Quite a few teams wanted to sign me at the end of last season so maybe they just signed me because of that, without really seeing me play.

“It was a super-frustrating time but I just carried on working hard and, thankfully, I’ve now got an opportunity at Dundee United.

“I didn’t get an explanation as to why I wasn’t given a chance and I didn’t ask for one either. It just got to the point where I wasn’t getting any opportunity at all and it was clear that I wasn’t going to be given that chance.

“So I asked to leave and the club agreed. Now I’m at United and I’m keen to show what I can do at this level.

“It was a bold decision, I suppose, but I think I’m good enough and that’s why I did it. If I didn’t think that then I’d have sat it out for three years and just got paid but that’s not what I want to do - I want to play football.”

Taken from telegraph.co.uk