St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright said his side’s character was “never in question” after they fought back from 2-1 down to beat Hearts 3-2 in the Betfred Cup at McDiarmid Park.
He added: “It was a great response which didn’t surprise me.”
Saints now meet Aberdeen away in the quarter-finals, a draw which Tommy said he is “happy” with.
He added: “To win the competition we have to beat the best and Pittodrie is a ground we have done well at.”
Speaking about the Hearts win he went on: “We wanted it more and we showed a lot of quality. We deserved to win.”
Saints were 1-0 up through a scorching 30-yarder from Danny Swanson when they lost two goals in four minutes as half-time approached, Connor Sammon and a Jamie Walker penalty counting for the visitors.
Speaking about the loss of these goals, Tommy said: “In that four-minute spell we should’ve done better,
“For the first one, we should’ve stopped the cross.
“At half-time, I told the players to be more positive and relax more on the ball. We did and it paid off.”
St Johnstone levelled through a Swanson penalty and Brad McKay, on as a half-time substitute for the injured Tam Scobbie, netted the winner against his old club.
Swanson was also playing against one of his former clubs and the Saints boss went on: “Danny was unplayable. He was absolutely terrific and Brad also showed plenty of character.”
Meanwhile, Scobbie is likely to be doubtful for the game away to Motherwell on Saturday due to his leg injury.
