St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson believes he’s got a team better-suited to the pitches they play on away from home.
The McDiarmid Park surface isn’t conducive to the style of play Saints have showcased on the road – making them the third most productive visiting side in the Premiership in contrast to one of the poorest performing ones on their own turf.
It’s meant altering their tactics for home fixtures, Davidson has admitted.
But a trip to Tynecastle on Saturday will allow his side to get the ball on the ground again without fear of bobbles and bumps.
“We’ve got a lot of good football players in the team just now,” said the Saints boss.
“Previous St Johnstone teams have been about hard workers and there have been other good football ones as well at times.
“I think this team is one of the latter.
“You can see it by the passes we try to play.
“Our pitch is a difficult one to do that. We have had to adjust our game for it.
“We want the players to play football rather than launch it.
“Away from home our performances have been really good – outwith the two astro pitches (Livingston and Kilmarnock).
“Tynecastle is a great place to play and the boys will enjoy it.”
Third for a reason
The weekend pitch may be a plus but Davidson knows that the footballing challenge is one of the hardest in the Premiership calendar.
“Hearts are third place for a reason,” he said. “They’ve got quality.
“Playing in Europe has brought them on to another level, I think.
“Robbie plays 3-4-3 most of the time – it’s a system we had a lot of success with in the double year.
“We’ve scored twice in both games against them this season but we’ve conceded three each time.
“We need to cut out those little mistakes.”
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