Abdul Osman says that a cup win with Partick Thistle would trump the greatest night of his footballing life so far.
When you consider that the current highlight of his career is scoring the winning penalty at Anfield when minnows Northampton Town sent giants Liverpool crashing out of the League Cup in 2010, then it’s clear just how much a successful Scottish Cup run means to the Firhill captain.
That’s not to say he is getting ahead of himself though. The combative midfielder is well aware of the challenge that will be posed by fourth round opponents St Mirren in Paisley this evening.
He said: “It was the greatest night of my life to score the winner at Anfield, it was a special night.
“They had [Markus] Babbel, Lucas, [Sotirios] Kyrgiakos, [Brad] Jones in goal, [Jay] Spearing – it wasn’t a full-strength side but to go to Anfield and win any game is tough. When I was hitting the penalty I just thought to myself ‘put it in the back of the net.’ I was very nervous but I managed to keep my cool and put it away.
“I don’t think the game was televised but the next morning it might as well have been because my face was all over the back pages of the papers. It was just amazing, all my friends and family were at the game.
“The Liverpool players were just distraught with their heads in their hands and just walked off the pitch. It just shows what can be done if you play your best football and get a bit of luck, which you always need in football regardless of who you are playing against.
“I don’t really talk about it too much, but sometimes I post it up on Instagram and some of my ex-teammates will say ‘it’s gone now, leave it out!’ But it will always live with me.
“It would be amazing to go to Hampden with this team and to have a similar outcome in the final. It’s the national stadium and a big arena, so if we could win the cup there it would probably trump Anfield. I’ve been in there to do a few interviews, but I’ve not played there or watched a game there. It’s really nice though. I’ve been down on the pitch and I’d love to play there one day.
“Our unbeaten run is over now, but we just need to keep doing what we’re doing and see how far we can go in the cup. It’s a one-off game and we can’t take anybody lightly. I don’t think too much about being favourites, we could easily go there and get beat. They’re playing against a Premiership side and they might lift their game, so we’ve got to go there and makes sure that we concentrate on the job at hand.
“I think we’re due a cup run, it’s very important for a club like us. The fans love cup games, so we just want to go as far as we possibly can and hopefully bring some joy to our fans.”
Meanwhile, Alex Rae, the St Mirren manager, is keen to make the most of the bounce earned along with the three points taken in last weekend’s Renfrewshire derby win over Morton. Sean Kelly’s goal was the difference between the sides at Cappielow, and Rae is hoping the feel-good factor will still be around tonight.
“It was an important three points for everyone concerned and we take the positives from that,” he said. “We are up against a Premiership side in Partick Thistle and that brings its own challenges. We are looking forward to it.
“I think there will be a lot of Thistle fans there as well and our club are doing an initiative where both sets of fans can sit together in a family section to give a different slant to things. I’m sure it will be a well-supported and exciting game.
“We are just looking at trying to capitalise on last week and get a positive result.”
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