TOMMY Wright, the St Johnstone manager, hit out last night at the SPFL hierarchy for a double dose of disrespect in the lead-up to this weekend's League Cup semi-finals. Not only does he feel his club deserves an apology for the league's decision to renege on an agreement to offer the club an additional allocation in the main stand at Tynecastle then subsequently make them available to opponents Hibs, the 52-year-old is still seething that the league's official website saw fit last week to run a picture with the head of Michael O'Halloran superimposed into a Rangers strip. While the club have formally asked the SPFL for an explanation, O'Halloran remains a St Johnstone player and will feature against the Easter Road side on Saturday.

The Northern Irishman - who aligned himself with comments from chairman Steve Brown that the ticket row was "outrageous", "unacceptable" and a "fiasco" - reckons that neither the ticket mix-up nor the photoshop fiasco would have been allowed to happen in such a fashion with one of Scotland's bigger clubs. He said he would use these burning injustices “to build a fire" within his players as they attempt to book a second appearance in a major final in 24 months.

“When you’re at a small club you always think, and I think rightly at times, the world can be against you and I think that’s the case," said Wright. “It does provide a siege mentality in the group and I’m quite happy to play along with it because I think it does help us. We’ll use all these things to build a fire - it will motivate us even more than we already are.

"Certainly what happened with Michael O’Halloran - having his head superimposed on a Rangers kit - wouldn’t happen to big clubs," the Northern Irishman added. "That’s disrespectful to our club. We’ve written a letter and are waiting for a reply. If Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen or Hearts had a player linked with a move and his head was superimposed on another kit there would be uproar. But because it’s St Johnstone, it’s all right. They think they are being funny but they’re not.

“With the ticket thing the chairman [Steve Brown] made a really strong statement and I’d back him with that. You know when you make a promise you really should keep it or if you’re not going to keep it you should make a decision and tell people why you’re not going to keep it a lot earlier than what happened.

“It’s okay for someone to come out and say sorry for making a mistake. There’s nowhere to go then if there’s an apology in terms of being the aggrieved party. I think people would respect that but I don’t think that’s even been said yet."

Wright confirmed that nothing had moved on in the Ibrox side's pursuit of O'Halloran, and "there was nothing in the background to suggest it will" in the wake of Saturday's semi-final. The 25-year-old is said to be in a "good frame of mind" and Wright, who compared him to a "stray puppy" when he first arrived at the club following an underwhelming spell at Bolton, was ready to let him off the leash.

“When you are a smaller club you pick up strays, give them a home and look after them," said Wright. "Look at the quality of Michael. If he was doing well at Bolton, St Johnstone wouldn’t get a player like that. We got him because he wasn’t in a good place, he was low in confidence and had been on a few loans that hadn’t worked out. He was almost like a stray puppy that needed a home and we gave him one. He’s had the arm around him at times and a rocket when he’s needed it.

“I’ve probably given him confidence because of the belief I have in his ability," he added. "No matter what is written or said about him, what fans or even family think of him, I've told him the one person he has to keep happy is me - because I pick the team."

With captain Dave Mackay fit for action, and midfield duo Murray Davidson and Chris Millar rated 60/40, Wright was equally happy yesterday to have signed O'Halloran's strike partner Steven MacLean on a contract extension. "It is a year extension with a year option and I am delighted to get that done," he said. "Not only is he a quality player, but he is a leader on and off the pitch, and a huge influence on the squad."

Former Hibs player David Wotherspoon, like Wright, a veteran of the club's 2014 Scottish Cup winning side, denied that the Easter Road side's extra fans would put St Johnstone at a disadvantage. "They will have three stands and more supporters there so there will be more pressure on them throughout the game," he said. "We’ll be there with our supporters and I am sure they will be in good voice."