BY KYLE GUNN

For St Mirren centre-half Conor McCarthy, a trip to the national stadium in the last four of the Scottish Cup wasn’t even a consideration when he signed for the club last month.

But that’s the prize at stake if his side can win tonight’s home game against Aberdeen.

The 21-year-old has a decent cup record back home, having won two out of his four FAI Cup finals with Cork City.

And while McCarthy knows being in next year’s Premiership takes precedence, he’s confident that the supporters would provide fantastic backing if the Buddies could make it to Hampden Park.

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He said: "I didn't even think about the cups when I moved here, my focus was just on the league - I didn't picture myself playing at Hampden so soon.

"If we get there it's an added bonus. My cup experience was good with Cork City. I was there from the age of 16 and we got to the FAI Cup final four of the five years I was there and we won twice.

"I've always had good cup runs so hopefully I can emulate that success with St Mirren.

"The league is probably our bread and butter and anything after that is a bonus. Don't get me wrong though, we're really looking forward to this game and it should be a great occasion.

"Being one game away from Hampden is a brilliant incentive. I've spoken to a few of the lads who have played there before and they've said it's a fantastic venue. I'm sure if we are lucky enough to get there then the St Mirren fans will pack it out.”

McCarthy has already faced Dons once in his short Paisley career, in a goalless stalemate at the Simple Digital Arena on January 26, and knows exactly what to expect after having to battle against a big physical striker in Sam Cosgrove last time out when Aberdeen came to town.

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The big defender has also backed strikers Jon Obika, who has four goals in his last three games in all competitions, and Alex Jakubiak to fire Saints into the next round.

McCarthy continued: “We’ve performed well as a team the last couple of times against Aberdeen, but we are under no illusions about how good they are and it’s going to be an extremely tough game.

“Biks [Obika] and Alex have been working hard on the training pitch with the manager. Sometimes these partnerships can take a while to gel but it seems these two have hit the ground running. They are both on fire at the minute and hopefully it can continue.

"It’s so far so good for us and Akin [Famewo] at the back. We’ve gelled pretty much straight away. He’s a very good player and I enjoy playing alongside him.”

St Mirren v Aberdeen is love on BBC Scotland tonight. Kick-off 7.20pm.

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