St Johnstone’s 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock made their Premiership status more secure than before kick-off but lessened chances of the Perth side climbing into the top six.
The prospect of a few end of season dead rubbers is becoming increasingly likely with every passing week.
Courier Sport picks out five talking points after a second half salvage job helped put right a first half horror show.
1 Team selection
St Johnstone sorely missed Dan Phillips, Adam Montgomery and Nicky Clark – not a statement that will surprise anybody.
Given the fact Callum Davidson revealed 10 of his players had injury concerns in the week before this match, this was always going to be a tricky 11 to select.
Even in those circumstances, though, it felt like a bit of a throwback to the end of December/start of January when starting line-ups were raising eyebrows.
Three in particular were in the spotlight.
The first was Theo Bair over Zak Rudden.
As poor as the rest of them in the first half, Bair was actually making a worthy contribution by the time of his withdrawal just after the hour mark.
James Brown at left wing-back has been a divisive one for a long time.
There have been good performances from Brown in a role that doesn’t naturally fit his skillset but even though versatility and adaptability are assets, he remains a square peg in a round hole.
This was as uncomfortable an afternoon as I can recall him enduring even though Davidson was correct to point out all his outfield players were vulnerable to a first half withdrawal.
Unless Tony Gallacher was one of the 10 carrying an injury, the fact that a right-footed full-back and then a right-footed attacker/midfielder were preferred to him doesn’t bode well for his long-term future at McDiarmid Park.
And this was another occasion when Graham Carey didn’t do enough to warrant his manager’s faith that he’s ready to rediscover talismanic creativity.
Carey’s pedigree is undeniable but his confidence appears rock bottom.
David Wotherspoon, who enhanced his claims by making an impact off the bench, will hope his time is about to come.
2 Discipline
In most facets of the game there was a significant second half uplift. There had to be.
Football basics like making a sensible pass to your team-mate, not slicing or under-hitting it, closing down an opponent and choosing the right runs were all there to see.
One aspect didn’t improve, however.
In fact, the numbers would tell you it got worse.
Saints reached a not-so-grand total of 21 free-kicks in the match – nine in the first half, 12 in the second.
Carey was the chief culprit with four but the fouls were spread across the team and there could be little argument about the award of any of them or the five yellow cards picked up.
A few were tactical and sensible in the circumstances but there was persistent rashness.
Saints conceded a goal from one free-kick and should have had a penalty awarded against them from another.
Facing a side whose chief threats come from set-pieces – in-swinging crosses or Daniel Armstrong shots – it was high-risk and unnecessary stuff all too frequently.
3 Same old refereeing mess
Saints have suffered more than their fair share of VAR crimes this season.
And the consequences of one was still being felt at Rugby Park, with Phillips serving the second game of an ill-deserved suspension.
There could be no gripes at the weekend, though.
Andy Considine had the look of a man knowing he had committed an offence and was waiting for the ‘guilty’ verdict to be pronounced.
Derek McInnes told the world his former Aberdeen captain admitted he expected a penalty to be awarded when his arm went up and made contact with a back post cross.
It was inexplicable referee Chris Graham wasn’t directed to his pitch-side monitor.
We got away with that one https://t.co/mFFv3UrSSI
— St. Johnstone FC News ✯✯ (@sjfcnews) March 18, 2023
Before VAR was introduced, the biggest fear of many of us was we’d get stop-start football with too much added time.
The reality is far more concerning.
Decision-making hasn’t improved now that there’s an extra official who gets to take a cold, considered look at contentious issues on TV monitors.
It’s actually got worse.
What an indictment of refereeing in the county that is.
4 A long shot
When Davidson was asked to estimate what points total would give them a fighting chance of making the top six, he suggested 40.
Now that Saints have reached 32, that means two wins and two draws from their last four fixtures or three victories to go a point higher.
Given Livingston’s result against Ross County, even the latter might not be enough.
Drawing with Kilmarnock was an excellent result considering the circumstances of the match – and in the context of top flight safety, which is the season’s main aim – but it wasn’t enough to maintain realistic hopes of catching St Mirren and Livi.
Bluntly, there’s little recent evidence to suggest Saints have a four out of four run – or something very close to it – in them.
5 Stop-start
Game, free weekend. Game, free weekend. Game, free weekend.
That’s been Saints’ schedule since the end of February draw with St Mirren.
It’s meant, their best midfielder of late, Phillips will have missed over a month by the time the Aberdeen game comes around a week on Saturday, despite his suspension only being for two games.
And it’s also meant that hopes of mounting a serious a top six push have probably been hindered rather than helped by disrupted Premiership rhythm.
There’s no perfect way to plan a training schedule when there isn’t a competitive match on a Saturday but Davidson has decided to try something different over the international break.
Mind you, on this occasion, it might be no bad thing that the league is put on hold because their next opponents are coming off arguably their best result of the campaign thus far.
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