LOSING HAD become a worrying habit for ST JOHNSTONE early in the season, but now that the habit has been kicked, the Perth men are hoping that winning will become just as addictive.

Saints broke their four-game run of defeats against Raith Rovers on Saturday and are determined to ensure that the victory won’t prove to be a one-off.

Queen of the South are the visitors to McDiarmid Park this evening and Saints have revenge on their minds.

Queens were comfortable victors in Perth just two weeks ago, a match that is still fresh in the memory of John Connolly’s squad.

Striker Stephen McConalogue admitted, “This is a chance for us to get them back. It won’t be easy, though, because they are a good passing team.

“Hopefully, we’ve turned the corner after our win against Raith and the victories will keep coming.”

A hamstring injury has kept McConalogue out since the start of the season and the former Dundee United man was impressive in his first substitute’s appearance on Saturday. The next step is a starting place.

“It was great to be back and for the team to get a win,” he said.

“To be injured straight away after coming to a new club is really frustrating, especially when the team is losing and you want to be out there helping the boys.

“I felt fine in the game and there was no problem with the hamstring afterwards. If I get a start I’ll hope to take my chance.”

Michael Moore is available tonight after serving a one-match ban at the weekend, and with Peter MacDonald now just two weeks away from a reserve comeback, McConalogue expects the competition to be fierce for the two striking jerseys.

“That will be the best thing for the club,” he pointed out, “because competition always brings out the best in everyone.”

Connolly has already noticed a change for the better in the dressing room atmosphere in the wake of Saturday’s win.

“You can see that the whole club has been lifted,” he observed. “It sounds daft after just one result, but it’s true. Even though we had seven players out against Raith, everybody still expected us to win and it’s a big positive that we’ve won that game.

“I thought Kevin Fotheringham made a good debut, Stephen McConalogue did really well and held the ball up which helped get our players going, and young Stevie McManus also did well.”

Connolly has yet to decide whether to play assistant manager Jim Weir for a third game in succession.

He commented, “This is a game that we might look at other options. We’ll make up our minds after training tomorrow.”

Efforts are still being made to bolster the Saints squad ahead of this evening’s transfer deadline but Connolly had no new signings to report yesterday.

“We’ve been chasing players since last Monday, but I don’t know if anything will happen before Tuesday night.”

Queens manager Iain Scott was hanging on the telephone last night as he attempted to bring in two new signings ahead of tonight's transfer deadline.

“We are hit hard by injury and I reckon at the moment I have around nine players,” said Scott.