Alan Mannus saw the Frazer Wright fear factor at close quarters at Tannadice last weekend.
And he’s hoping for a repeat showing at McDiarmid Park this afternoon.
The St Johnstone keeper believes Dundee United striker Nadir Ciftci might be scared of the veteran defender, given the number of times Wright has got the better of him in the last few Tayside derbies.
And Kilmarnock frontman Josh Magennis knows all about the old-school defensive qualities of the man he could be coming up against today, according to his fellow Northern Irishman.
Mannus explained: “I think he (Wright) won pretty much any header that was anywhere near him last weekend.
“He always does well against Ciftci. Maybe he’s scared of him. He never really causes us too many problems when Frazer’s playing and is on him.
“I’d imagine he’ll be pretty intimidating to play against if you’re a striker. I can hear what he says to them sometimes because I’m quite close!
“There can be things going on in games when we’re backs to the wall, and he’ll turn round and look at me with a smile.
“Other strikers don’t like it. Someone else told me that Frazer and Ando (Steven Anderson) were really hard to play against. I think it was Josh Magennis.
“Even in training I’ve lost count of the times when Ando and Frazer are kicking balls off the line. They’re a good pairing who just hate to lose a goal, which is exactly what you want in your centre-halves.”
Wright and Anderson certainly did their job well against United. Maybe even too well, from the keeper’s point of view.
He explained: “It’s not too often we win by more than one goal. The extra one made it a bit more comfortable for me in the second half.
“I think I just had one save in the game, which was comfortable enough.
“It’s alright once in a while, but I must admit I kind of like it when I’m a bit busier..as long as we get the win, of course!”
Today’s match is a head-to-head between two sides with top six aspirations.
Many would believe that a home win, putting seven points between Saints and Killie, would kill off the Ayrshire club’s hopes but Mannus doesn’t see it that way.
“There’s still a lot of points to play for before the split, so I wouldn’t rule Kilmarnock out even if we beat them,” he pointed out.
“It’s a clich but it’s there for a reason. We have to take it one game at a time. You can’t get too far ahead of yourself.
“We’ve been on a great run and a really bad run this season, so we know what can happen.
“The top six looks like it’s going to be quite tight this year, so it was important we got three points.
“It would be a great achievement if we got there again.”
Manager Tommy Wright, who will be without Simon Lappin but has Murray Davidson and Brian Graham available again, noted: “Killie have improved a bit lately.
“They had a tremendous start to the season but like most teams they hit a dip during the year.
“That’s what happens to most teams in this league but they’ve come through a tough time lately.
“Since Gary Locke took over they have been scoring goals but what we’re looking at is the fact they’ve been conceding as well.
“Hopefully we can do enough this weekend to get the three points because the race for the top six is heating up.
“A win would put a little gap between us and them, but a defeat would bring them really back into it.
“It’s an important game but there’s a long way to go.
“I think ourselves, Hamilton, Dundee and Killie are all fighting for those places in the top six.
“It’s going to be a real battle because this league is difficult and every game is tough.
“We have been here before, we know there are no easy points at this stage of the season and you have to fight for everyone.”