Owen Coyle has listened to all the whispers about opportunities waiting to be grasped from Celtic's faltering form and quietly shaken his head. The St Johnstone manager is simply staggered that so many people seem to feel his side can upset over-whelming odds in Saturday's Tennent's Scottish Cup semi-final.

Coyle leafed back to Celtic's painfully narrow extra-time defeat by AC Milan in the Champions League to present evidence for his brutal realism. Perhaps, though, there may have also been a touch of psychological trickery from a sharp young manager keen to deflect away any creeping signs of pressure as his first division players prepare to tackle a monumental task.

Last weekend's victory over Motherwell was the first Gordon Strachan's side had achieved in five matches, yet their performance still had the Parkhead manager venting his fury within the dressing room.

Celtic's inching progress towards retention of the Bank of Scotland Premierleague title is halted this weekend to face a St Johnstone team that has already defeated four top flight opponents in cup competitions this season. Hence, the undercurrent of feeling from certain quarters that Coyle's team could work a wonder at Hampden.

"I find it incredible,"

scoffed the McDiarmid Park manager. "We're playing the team who will be champions sooner rather than later and who have done it in emphatic style. They did the same last year. I only look back a few weeks to when they were a blow of the referee's whistle away from knocking AC Milan out of the Champions League. They should have had a penalty in the San Siro and I'm sure they would have scored it. I genuinely couldn't see Milan scoring two on the night, so that would have been Celtic through. I think that shows the enormity of the task we face.

"People tell me Celtic are not playing well, but they won on Saturday. They are a team that knows how to win matches and have quality from back to front. You only have to look at the players sitting in the stand to see the depth of talent they have.

"We go to Hampden as big underdogs, but we are there on merit. We'll give it all we have."

Coyle's obvious and genuine respect for the achievements of Strachan's team will not force him into stage a defensive blockade. In beating Rangers, Motherwell, Falkirk and Dundee United this season, St Johnstone have been aggressively assertive from the first whistle.

"The one thing I won't do is go there and sit back," said Coyle. "There will be times when we'll be pinned back, because you'd expect Celtic to have the bulk of possession, but when we get the ball we will commit players forward.

"I hated having to play for a 0-0 as a player and I want my team to try and make a real game of it. Whether we can do that may be dictated by the quality within the Celtic players, but there will be nothing negative about theSt Johnstone team, I can tell you that.

"What I will stress to the players is that they must have no regrets at full-time. If we go and give everything but are beaten by a better team, then you can accept that because we all know Celtic's quality. But I don't want them coming into the dressing room having under-performed, and wondering what might have been. That would leave a sour taste."

When asked to select from his own memories of playing against Celtic, Coyle selected an example fitting for Strachan's current side. The Parkhead club have made a habit of snatching games at the death this season, even if few have been as dramatic as Coyle's bitter experience from 11 years ago.

"I remember a quarter-final tie with Dundee United at Parkhead," he said. "We were 1-0 up with a minute to go and lost 2-1. Pierre van Hooijdonk scored the equaliser then Andy Thom raced through to score the winner.

"What that showed to me was when you play against quality players at a top-level club, you will be punished for switching off for a moment. We know that when players get tired then there can be lapses in concentration. We'll have to try and guard against that this weekend."

St Johnstone already have semi-final experience this season, having lost in extra-time to Hibernian in the last four of the CIS Insurance Cup. Their heroics in knockout competition have, though, been at a cost to their primary ambition of promotion.

Coyle's team sit five points behind Gretna, the first division leaders, with three games remaining, despite a convincing 2-0 win at Raydale Park last weekend. Picking and choosing between the achievements is an impossibility for their manager.

"No matter what, we've had a super season," said Coyle. "When it's analysed. then I think we'd all agree that the fantastic cup runs have had a detrimental effect on the league. We don't have a big squad and injuries can quickly eat into us. In fact, if one more player gets injured this week, then yours truly might find himself in the 16.

"You try and weigh it up when people ask you if you'd swap the cup runs for the league, but it's very difficult. We get on with it as it is and look forward to a fantastic challenge against an excellent Celtic team."