St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson has admitted that fixtures against Motherwell weren’t ones he looked forward to when his friend Graham Alexander was in the opposite dugout.
The pair were team-mates with Preston North End and Scotland and have remained close since their playing days ended and both moved into coaching.
Alexander’s last games in charge were the home and away defeats to Sligo Rovers in Europa Conference League qualifiers.
Davidson is confident Alexander will make a success of his next job – as he believes was the case at Fir Park.
But now his sole focus is on Saints getting the better of opponents whose formation and tactics may be harder to predict under the caretaker management of Steven Hammell.
“I didn’t particularly enjoy when our teams were playing against each other and I’m obviously really disappointed for him,” said Davidson.
“I thought he did really well at Motherwell – taking them from the bottom of the league into Europe.
“It was Europe that ended up costing him his job.
“We all know that’s football unfortunately.”
Confident opponents
It’s one out of one for Motherwell in the league after they beat St Mirren on Sunday.
“I watched them against Sligo and Macca (Steven MacLean) and Alex (Cleland) were at the St Mirren game,” said Davidson.
“They’ve made slight tweaks and they might change it again.
“We’ll prepare for two or three different scenarios and make sure we raise our levels. That’s what I’m looking for.
“The new players are getting used to each other.
“There were a lot of good things against Hibs that we can build on.
“The first win is important.”
Captain Liam Gordon will be available after training all week for the first time in the best part of a month, as will Ali Crawford. Murray Davidson, though, is suspended.
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