THE 2010 League Cup final at Hampden was such a demoralising experience for St Mirren that they seem reluctant to go back.

In the two seasons since that last painful visit to the national stadium – when they lost 1-0 to a Rangers team reduced to nine men – the Paisley side have progressed to three cup quarter finals in succession but have failed to go any further. Each loss was traumatic in its own way.

There was the Scottish Cup defeat by Aberdeen in a replay after St Mirren had conceded an equaliser deep into injury time in the original tie. Then there was the home loss to first division Ayr United in the League Cup, followed later that season by defeat to Hearts in the Scottish Cup, again via a replay. St Mirren missed a penalty early in the second game and were made to rue such profligacy, as well as the referee's decision to blow early for the spot kick thus ruling out Nigel Hasselbaink's "goal" in the immediate aftermath of the infringement.

Now another quarter-final this evening offers an opportunity for the Paisley club to finally return to Hampden. Standing in their way, however, are Aberdeen, one of the form teams in the country. Craig Brown's side have not lost since a narrow opening-day defeat away to Celtic, and extended their unbeaten record at home on Saturday with a comfortable win over Dundee. St Mirren, in contrast, have lost their last three league games, although they may take some comfort from the fact they are protecting a seven-match unbeaten sequence against tonight's opponents.

"I've never got past this stage in my career," said defender David Van Zanten. "We lost in the quarters to St Johnstone in my first spell at St Mirren, and in the last few seasons we've suffered disappointment against Aberdeen, Ayr and Hearts. So this is another chance to put that right and finally reach a semi-final. I've never played at Hampden before so it's something I really want to do at some point in my career.

"There aren't many of the boys still here from the final two years ago but it's still spoken about as the one that got away. I remember watching it at the time and just feeling really sorry for the lads as they put so much into the game and probably deserved to win it."

In this most tumultuous of seasons in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League, St Mirren remain one of its most schizophrenic members. Manager Danny Lennon's willingness to deviate from the passing game that was the hallmark of his first two seasons to embrace a Plan B that he once said he would never contemplate has produced mixed results.

Playing more direct to Steven Thompson, Lewis Guy and Sam Parkin has paid off on occasion, but too often the deliveries into the box have been poor and promising opportunities wasted. Never was this more apparent than on Saturday against Dundee United when an abundance of possession yielded precious few chances for the front men due to the poor quality of crosses.

The narrow defeat by United sent St Mirren plummeting down the table to second bottom, sparking pangs of anxiety among some of their fanbase. Such is the tightness of the division, however, they remain just six points behind second place and within three of fifth.

A Scottish Communities League Cup semi-final place would give long-suffering fans something to look forward to in the new year.