Jody Morris has revealed how Tuesday night”s triumph over Rangers saw another item on St Johnstone”s “to do list” ticked off.
Saints’ stunning 4-1 defeat of the Ibrox side breathed new life into what appeared a fading challenge for sixth place.
According to Morris, it also satisfied the latest demand made of the players by boss Derek McInnes.
“The manager has stressed to us that we should look to be surprising people,” he said.
“This is just another example of our doing that.
“Last season there were people doubting we’d win the league but we did.
“This season people thought we’d go straight back down and it doesn’t look like that will happen.
“One of the other things Derek McInnes wanted us to do was beat one of the Old Firm which we’ve now done.
“So that’s another step we’ve taken down the road the manager has us on.
“To have won by 4-1 made it a really amazing night.
“We felt we’d played well against them here the last time but were made to pay for not putting away chances.
“But this time we scored the goals and although we dropped off a little bit in the second half thankfully we’d done enough to hold out.
“It was particularly pleasing the way we defended and restricted the number of opportunities they had.
“They absolutely pumped us at Ibrox so to limit them to half chances and shots from funny angles was great.”Saint’s belief callMorris reckons that if more sides had the confidence that Saints displayed to have a go at either half of the Old Firm then the SPL might not be the two-horse race it is.
“Celtic and Rangers are streets ahead of the rest of us, as has been demonstrated over a number of years,” he said.
“But too often people go out against them believing they can’t win.
“You’re never going to beat them with that attitude.
“We’re fortunate here to have a group of boys and a management that have a belief in themselves.
“Now St Mirren and ourselves have shown both the Old Firm are beatable.
“Results like these can only make for a more exciting SPL.”
Morris’s display against Walter Smith’s men was labelled a “masterclass” by McInnes.
The former Chelsea player modestly batted away the praise.
“I don’t know about that,” he laughed.
“When you play a side like Rangers everyone has to be on the ball, particularly in midfield.
“I thought we worked hard as a team. I will admit I enjoyed the night though.”
The mutual admiration between Morris and McInnes was instrumental in the one-time England under-21 star moving north.
Working together day on day has only served to enhance the player’s opinion of a manager who has already attracted the attention of Dundee United, West Brom and Watford when they had vacancies to fill-compensation being the only thing that stopped those clubs taking the matter further forward.
“It’s no secret there has been interest in the manager before,” said Morris.
“That’s hardly surprising.
“I have worked under some decent managers and I’d put him up with the best of these.
“With his attention to detail, what he instills into players and his passion then there will be clubs trying to take him from here.
“But we’re hoping he goes nowhere.”
Saints now lie only two points behind sixth-top Hearts with a couple of matches remaining before the split.
The Perth men meet Dundee United (h) on Monday night then Aberdeen (a) the following Sunday.Hearts play St Mirren (a) and Kilmarnock (h).
But with St Johnstone still cast in the role of pursuers, Morris is realistic in his appraisal of their chances.
“The top six is there to be had if things go our way,” he said.
“But we’ll just take it one game at a time and try to win as many as we can.
“If we can win the next two and Hearts don’t then we’re in with a chance.
“But if that doesn’t work out then we’ll look to do well enough over the five matches left after that to stay top of the bottom half of the league.”