Harry Davis: Celtic spring can give St Mirren survival fight bounce

The Buddies take on Raith Rovers tonight knowing a win could leave them two points from a Championship safety berth.

The Fife side have a six-point advantage over the Saints with Ayr United a point closer to Jack Ross’s side.

But Davis is convinced the Paisley side can use the plaudits earned in the Scottish Cup defeat to Celtic to give them renewed confidence in their bid to beat the drop.

The defender is convinced that Saints can take heart from a first-half display that saw the Buddies become the first team since Barcelona in November to take the lead at Celtic Park thanks to his first-half strike.

The 25-year-old Englishman said: “We’ve got a lot of confidence in the side from the past four wins that we got on the bounce.

“That breeds confidence and I think everyone can see we are really digging deep for one another and putting in some good displays, that can only help. 

“The first half performance from Sunday should breed 
confidence for Wednesday.

“It’s all about recovery now and looking to Wednesday and hopefully we can get another win there. Confidence is high and we’re really looking forward to the game.”

While disappointed that Saints couldn’t cause a cup upset, Davis believes playing at Celtic Park was a good test for the side. He said:   “It was a great experience, first of all. I’ve never been to this stadium so to play here was a great experience.

“I thought first half we did really well, stifled them. And then second half they started to open us up and they were clinical in their finishing. 

“It was a very good display from us, I’m just devastated that we couldn’t see it through.

“We had this belief in the team that we could see the game through and we’re disappointed not to be in the next round. But fair play to Celtic, they are a very good side and showed it.

Davis stunned Celtic Park into silence in the 13th minute when he tapped home from a few yards out following John Sutton’s knockdown after a well worked free-kick.

It was the Englishman’s second goal for the Buddies since joining the club on loan on transfer deadline day and he joked that he’ll need to look at having a goal bonus added to his contract.

"I was delighted to score,” he told the club website. “I’ll have to see if I can get a goal bonus! But yeah delighted to score. It was a great header back from Sutts and it was a great feeling to score.” 

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers hailed St Mirren’s display as the best he has faced this season by a Scottish side.

But assistant boss James Fowler has warned the plaudits will count for nothing if they fail to beat Raith tonight.

Fowler said: “It was a nice bit of recognition from Brendan. He saw close up the work the players put in however it does not count for anything in terms of the Raith Rovers game. 

“We were back to work on Monday preparing for it as it is a massive game, it is just as big as the Celtic one if not bigger.”

“The Celtic game left us with mixed emotions. There was a slight sense of disappointment in that we were a goal ahead and then hit the bar and you are left thinking what might have been. However, we gave our fans a fantastic hour where we were leading the best team in Scotland.”

“But whilst the cup brought a great focus on the club the league is our priority. We need points to survive and we will go looking for a win at Kirkcaldy.”

Josh Todd returns to the squad after being cup-tied at the weekend with only Rocco Quinn and Lewis McLear out injured.

Raith boss John Hughes is adamant that his side will have a shot-stopper in place and an experienced at that after midfielder Stevenson was forced to play between the sticks in the 1-0 defeat at Ayr. 

Kevin Cuthbert, Aaron Lennox and Conor Brennan all remain out injured however Hughes said: “We will have a goalkeeper and someone that can come here and do themselves justice.”

“We are now in a relegation fight and we need to deal with that. We have to go out and show a strong character to get the points we need to be safe.”