Scottish Cup: St Johnstone striker ready for 17 May date with destiny

Stevie May wears 17 on his back for St Johnstone and his two semi-final goals have given him belief they can lift the Scottish Cup - appropriately on 17 May.

Sunday's 2-1 win over Aberdeen took the Perth club to the final for the first time and they will take on Tayside rivals Dundee United at Celtic Park.

"You have always got to fancy yourselves in a final," 21-year-old striker May told BBC Scotland.

"Anything can happen, so we will be going into that with high spirits."

The semi-final at Ibrox was a reverse of the Scottish League Cup semi-final in January, when the Dons had brushed Saints aside 4-0.

Asked what made the difference this time, Perth-born May replied: "Just a bit of luck came our way and we were always in the game.

"You always dream of winning a Scottish Cup semi-final and scoring is always an added bonus. I'm delighted.

"We got written off by a lot of people before the game and even more so at half-time, when we were 1-0 down, but we still believed we could go on and win the game."

Saints held on to the Scotland Under-21 striker despite bids from Rotherham United and Peterborough United this season and he has repaid manager Tommy Wright with 25 goals.

Wright says there has been a belief that it is St Johnstone's year in the Scottish Cup

Responding to the date for the final coinciding with May's name and number, Wright said: "I like wee superstitions like that and the more we can dig out the better.

"He's had a tremendous season and he deserves all the accolades he's getting at the moment.

"People were pointing the finger because he'd never scored against Aberdeen and that's always a dangerous thing because he does score against most teams."

Saints, who lie sixth in the Scottish Premiership, will face their 17 May opponents, who are two places and six points above, once more in the league before the final.

"We've beaten them twice and they've beaten us once this season and we play them again, ironically, on Saturday - probably good to get it out the way and not the week before the final," said Wright.

"Both sides have quality and I'm expecting a tight game, but we believe it is our year. There has been that feeling probably since the quarter-final."

Midfielder Chris Millar was delighted to have made amends for a League Cup semi-final defeat from which he said his side were still "hurting" and says BBC Scotland pundit Pat Nevin had helped inspire his side by dismissing their chances against the Dons.

"We've got to a final and now we want to win it, which would cap a fantastic season - top six, a European adventure and two semi-finals and now a final," he said.

Assistant manager Callum Davidson thought it gave added importance to the last five league games of the season ahead of the showpiece against their local rivals.

"It is a Tayside final now," he added. "It will be tasty."