St Johnstone need to play with their heads to beat the heat in their Europa League opener this evening, according to manager Tommy Wright.
The Perth boss believes the punishing Armenian conditions are as big a factor as their Alashkert opponents.
But Wright is confident he has the European football know-how in his squad to return to McDiarmid Park in control of the two-leg first round qualifier.
Yesterday’s training session at the Yerevan stadium was a shorter than usual one on the day before a match, and Wright is happy that their preparation has been spot on.
Now he’s tasked his players with reining in their natural instincts, and showing “football intelligence”.
“The plan that we had before we flew over hasn’t changed,” Wright explained. “We knew it would be this warm.
“We had a walk in the morning and then a light training session at seven, which is kick-off time.
“It was a bit shorter than normal because of the heat.
“We’ve watched some more footage and now it’s about resting up before tomorrow night.
“We know that the game can’t be played at the tempo of a game back home.
“Even for them, from the footage we’ve seen, they don’t play at a high tempo.
“The conditions dictate how you can play.
“We’ve done everything we can to prepare them physically, but sometimes it’s a mental thing, and a discipline thing.
“The nature of British players is to press, press, press.
“Sometimes you can’t do that.
“We will press but you can’t do it for 90 minutes. No team could in these conditions. It’s about where you press.
“We have to play the conditions. It’s football intelligence. It’s not being negative, it’s giving your team the best opportunity to win.”
The defeat of highly-rated Luzern last year has given the team a template for this encounter.
Wright said: “The experience of Luzern will stand us in good stead. It wasn’t as hot as this, but it was hot. It was a tough shift because they kept the ball very well better than Alashkert will.
“Discipline is the key away in Europe. You have to keep your shape. It will be frustrating at times, there might be time wasting or players falling over easily.
“And it’s a different type of referee. I’m glad he’s from northern Europe (Denmark) but he’ll referee differently to a Scottish one.
“I hope the experience from previous years stands us in good stead.
“You can go through the team. Mannus has huge European experience with Linfield, Shamrock and here. Easton, Scobbie, Wright, Wotherspoon, Davidson, O’Halloran, Sutton, MacLean they’ve all played in Europe.
“Simon Lappin hasn’t, but he’s a vastly experienced player.
“And McKay and Shaughnessy have played under-age internationals.
“We know it’s going to be test but we’re confident we can do well.”
Steven Anderson will be in the squad but Chris Millar, Dave Mackay and Graham Cummins are all out.