Back to back wins evaded St Johnstone against Ross County.
The Perth side carried a strong attacking threat in patches but lacked the clinical touch that defined their victory over St Mirren a fortnight earlier.
Courier Sport picks out three talking points as the Perth side head into the international break ninth in the Premiership table.
Four into three
Liam Gordon’s biggest chunk of league action before Saturday – the second half at Tynecastle – didn’t end well.
Understandably short of match sharpness, the club captain went to ground to try and tackle Barrie McKay, conceding the late, match-winning penalty, when staying on his feet was the far more sensible option.
Centre-backs coming on at half-time to face attackers with the speed and skill of McKay, particularly when they’re lacking game-time as Gordon was, is an onerous task.
In the long-term, those minutes will have served him well because Gordon was at his commanding best on his return to the starting line-up against County.
Even more significant was the fact Saints were able to keep a clean sheet (their second in a row) with a new-look back three.
▶️No goals between St Johnstone and Ross County.
Watch the highlights of the game at McDiarmid Park⬇️ pic.twitter.com/QZCUb5eBJ7
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) September 17, 2022
This unit looked every bit as effective as the one with Ryan McGowan in it, which is high praise.
Alex Mitchell’s comfort on the right side – he looks more natural there than Gordon – increases Callum Davidson’s options.
Should the much talked-up back four ever happen, Gordon and Mitchell would appear to be a combination that could work, with McGowan at right-back and Tony Gallacher on the left.
When you’ve got four players who can thrive in a back three, though, the pull of sticking with that formation is strong.
Selecting the trio to start against Dundee United in a couple of weeks will be no easy task, mind you.
Taking his chance
Ali Crawford has yet to start a league game for Saints this season.
He’s been fit for seven of them and left on the bench as an unused substitute on two occasions.
Depending on your definition of ‘fringe player’, the cap may well fit the former Hamilton Accies playmaker these days.
With David Wotherspoon hopefully making an imminent return, the manager talking up Max Kucheriavyi’s chances of first team football and the impact Jamie Murphy and Graham Carey have already made as goal creators and scorers, Crawford has a big job on his hands to become a starter, never mind a regular one.
When Davidson does look in his direction along the bench with a game drifting towards a draw or defeat, quite simply, he has to alter it.
Crawford got over 20 minutes as Murphy’s replacement and picked up the pace of the contest pretty much instantly.
He changed the point of attack expertly on several occasions and his Opta passing accuracy percentage in the final third (75%) was the highest in the Saints side by some distance.
Had he managed to find the net with a late first-time shot from a Drey Wright cut-back it would have been the complete cameo.
If Carey’s knee injury isn’t serious, it’s still hard to envisage Crawford getting close to the game-time he amassed last season but he enhanced his reputation on Saturday and Davidson will remember his winning goal the last time Saints played at Tannadice.
Barometer fixtures
Two games against Ross County last season were unnerving occasions from a Perth perspective.
They turned out to be barometer fixtures.
When Malky Mackay’s team won 2-1 at McDiarmid in December they were only one point above Saints before kick-off.
But after watching the game play out, it was clear County were a side on the rise and there was little prospect of them being dragged into the relegation battle.
The 3-1 end of February defeat in Dingwall was equally dispiriting.
Confidence and fight drained out of the Saints team alarmingly, while County’s attacking options were more varied and potent.
This season’s compare and contrast was far more encouraging.
Without being at their best, Saints still edged this match.
Their Opta expected goals figure was twice as good, with the shots in the box disparity even greater.
And, for all the talk about the absence of Regan Charles-Cook and Joseph Hungbo not severely impacting County, the truth is they’re nowhere near as dangerous a team without those two stars.
There’s no shame in that.
Not for the first time this term, I left a game thinking ‘Saints should finish above them’.
And Dundee United and Kilmarnock are still to come.
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