Tommy Wright is well aware where St Johnstone need to improve if they are to get their season back on track.
After their second cup exit in recent weeks, the Perth boss admitted that “we’ve got to be better”.
And ball retention, or rather the lack of it, is the main reason they were knocked out of the League Cup by Hibs on Saturday, according to Wright.
“I would say that in two or three of the last few games we’ve not done well enough on the ball,” he said.
“I think we’ve worked hard enough but we’re not giving ourselves enough opportunities because we’re giving the ball away too cheaply.
“That’s one aspect we have to improve on for the rest of the season.”
Wright added: “It was an angry dressing room after the game because we knew we could have done better.
“But we’ll get on with it.
“We’re still in a really healthy position in the league and have got a lot of big games to look forward to.
“Hopefully we can cement that top six place and try and stay in touch with the teams above us.”
Meanwhile, Wright is hopeful that Brian Easton will be the only player ruled out of Saturday’s clash with Aberdeen.
“Easton’s (leg) cut is quite deep so he’ll be a doubt for the weekend,” he reported.
“It happened quite early in the game and was able to play on but when we saw it at half-time it was clear he had to come off.
“Chris Millar has basically cramped up so he was taken off as a precaution. He’ll be alright.
“Murray (Davidson) and Dave (Mackay) are both fine.
“Easty will be the only one unavailable at the weekend, I would imagine.”