St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson has admitted being unnerved by a pre-season back four horror show.
But the performance of his defenders against Rangers last weekend has exorcised the ghosts of Inverness.
Davidson, whose signature defensive formation in his time in charge at McDiarmid Park has been three centre-halves, watched his team concede three goals in 11 minutes and go on to lose 6-3 when they faced Caley Thistle at the start of July.
It wasn’t until over six months later that he started with a four again – the Scottish Cup defeat to Rangers.
The old formation hasn’t been banished for good.
However Davidson is delighted that he now has two strong tactical options.
FULL TIME 6-3
Inverness run out winners in the highlands
— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) July 5, 2022
“There have been a few times when I’ve thought about flipping it,” he said.
“Sometimes when we’ve changed to it during a game we’ve struggled.
“I did it from the start in pre-season up in Inverness.
“We had a bit of an excuse that day of being stuck in a bus for hours going up the road (they were diverted by an A9 accident) but that game really didn’t give me much confidence in it.
“It stuck in my mind. I can remember just thinking ‘wow’. It was that bad.
“We lost a few goals in the first 15 minutes and it looked like they would score every time they went up the pitch.
“It really worried me.”
Wide midfielders played their part
The personnel has changed since that afternoon in the Highlands and it wasn’t just centre-backs, Liam Gordon and Andy Considine, who ensured the back four system worked a few days ago.
“We had the two experienced guys in the middle and the two full-backs did very well too,” said Davidson.
“And I thought Drey (Wright) and Connor (McLennan) worked really hard in midfield.
“I do think we’ve got the players who suit a five but they’ve now shown they can work well in a four.
“In the previous two home games – Dundee United and Livingston – we didn’t play well in the five so that’s why I changed it.
“If we’d lost to Rangers by conceding more poor goals I’d have been annoyed with myself for not doing it.
“It’s a big positive for us from now until the end of the season that we can play both ways.
“It gives us good flexibility.”
On Saturday’s trip to Ibrox, Davidson said: “This will be a different type of game to the last Rangers one.
“We might tweak the personnel again.
“We need to make sure that when we get hold of the ball, we get up the pitch, rather than spending 90 minutes chasing them.”
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