St Johnstone need to make sure the first half horror show against Livingston was their “rock bottom” for the season, according to Jamie Murphy.
The Perth forward was on the bench while Saints were digging themselves a three-goal hole on Saturday.
He did a bit of spadework to try and rectify the damage – scoring once after the break and playing a part in another home goal.
But, even though a comeback proved beyond his team, the former Scotland international believes that the only way is up from here.
“It’s disappointing,” said Murphy. “To be in a game like this as a team – to go 3-0 at half-time – is not good enough.
“In the last few games we’ve lost by a goal here and there, and maybe had a few bad decisions.
“But it really hits home when you go 3-0 down at home like that.
“Hopefully half-time in this one will prove rock bottom for us and we can pick it up over the next couple of games.
“I know we’ve got difficult fixtures coming up (Rangers home and away) but we can sort things on the training pitch and get a bit of pride back in our performances.
“All we can do is come back out and try to please the fans a bit better.
“We had to try to do it for them in the second half against Livingston. You’ve got to win tackles and try to get the ball forward and do positive things.
“We managed to get a couple of goals back but then got hit on the counter, which was a bit of a killer.”
Subs make an impact
That’s twice in recent weeks Murphy has helped spark a second half revival at McDiarmid Park.
And he was ably supported by other substitutes on this occasion.
“This wasn’t my first time coming on when we were losing a game,” he said.
“We had younger boys like Connor (McLennan) and Cammy (MacPherson) and Daniel (Phillips) who all came on and did better in the second half.
“You’ve got to have a mindset on the bench of being ready for anything, winning, losing, drawing.
“I’ve had a bit of experience of that over the years.”
Show improvement
Even if Rangers knock Saints out of the Scottish Cup and take the league points the week after, Callum Davidson’s side have to show a form improvement in the double-header.
“We had a spell before the World Cup when everything seemed to be going right, and now it has gone the other way,” said Murphy.
“Sometimes it happens in a season.
“We need to fix it and I think we will fix it.
“It’s not like, come Monday morning, everything is going to be fine.
“It might take us a couple of weeks to get things right. But I know that everyone in that dressing room is going to do their best.”
He added: “It’s always up to the manager to decide what he thinks is the best side to put out on the day.
“He uses different formations, and maybe some of them I fit into, and some of them I don’t.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to play in a big Scottish Cup game like next week. Everyone looks forward to that.”
There might not be many Saints fans in the ground to watch him but Murphy hasn’t been distracted by a potential supporter boycott.
“I don’t know anything about that,” he said. “I’ve not read anything about it, so it’s not for me to comment.”
