Connor Smith admits he will be gunning for St Johnstone today and desperate to shoot down his old side to claim a Scottish Cup scalp.
The Hamilton Accies midfielder spent the first half of the season on loan from Saints and made his switch permanent last month, penning a two-and-half year deal.
But he feels he has a point to prove in Perth after making only a handful of appearances for the McDiarmid Park men since arriving there in January last year.
The 23-year-old said: “I was watching the draw and when I saw St Johnstone came out for us I was like: Oh, no way! It was always going to happen!
“But I am buzzing for the game. I haven’t been away from St Johnstone for that long so it is a kind of similar squad.
“There’s boys still there who were playing over me when I was there, so I want to try and make an impression in the game and show that I shouldn’t have been let go.
“A goal would be the icing on the cake for me. But the main focus is getting us into the hat for the next round.
“I enjoyed my time up there and training with the boys was great, but I just never clicked there. I wasn’t getting enough game time and when you are not playing games, it is the worst feeling ever so I felt it was right for me to get out and try something else.”
Both sides are struggling in their respective league with the hosts propping up the Premiership and Accies in the relegation play-off slot in the Championship.
But Simo Valakari’s Saints are on a three-game winning streak and hitting a bit of form, while Accies have lost four on the bounce.
Smith added: “I feel like it is two teams who are struggling in their leagues but obviously doing well enough in the cup to have gotten this far.
“They are bottom of their league and we are down at the wrong end of ours for a reason as well, but St Johnstone have picked up recently and got themselves on a good wee run.
“It is up to us to try and break that and get ourselves going again.”
Accies have a big void to fill in midfield after captain Scott Martin’s surprise deadline day move to Championship rivals Partick Thistle.
“I was close with Scotty and he is going to be a big loss for us,” Smith admitted.
“I don’t really know what happened there, it is not for me to say, but we are a strong group of boys and anybody could be the captain in there now.
“It is tough when your captain leaves but we just have to try and get on with it and focus on the game.”