Hearts’ mid-season squad overhaul offered St Johnstone encouragement in their bid for European football, according to manager Tommy Wright.
And the Perth side have taken full advantage.
The Tynecastle club were sitting second top of the Premiership at one point but, as the two sides prepare to meet for the final time this season at McDiarmid Park tonight, Saints have built up a nine-point gap that has secured a place in the Europa League qualifiers.
And Wright sensed in January that to make as many signings as Ian Cathro did was fraught with peril for Hearts, and provided an opportunity for his own team.
He said: “There is always a danger when a manager leaves and I did look at the number of signings Hearts made in January and thought that can’t really work.
“It doesn’t work very often.
“I think the only club who has benefited from that sort of turnaround in recent seasons was Ross County and they were in dire straits. I think they signed six or seven.
“I thought if we could put a run together it would be difficult for them to blend.
“I’m not saying the signings were poor but it is difficult making eight or nine signings mid-season. It doesn’t matter what country they are from. With that volume of players coming in it can bring problems.
“They will probably argue it hasn’t helped them get a settled team or a settled way of playing.
“The players here sensed an opportunity and they went out and won games to make it happen in terms of fourth place and Europe.”
A win tonight will take Saints beyond the highest ever points total for the club in the Premiership, which is certainly an end of season goal worth striving for.
“This group has probably broken lot of records in recent years,” Wright said. “The two games are important, let’s be clear about that, but with the early start in Europe it is also important I look at one or two who haven’t been playing much recently and give some a rest.
“But we won’t be taking these games easily. I want to win them both.
“Most of our younger players are out on loan and I’m not sure Ally Gilchrist is ready for 90 minutes yet after his injury. Chris Kane is coming back and Craig Thomson has been in the squad. Greg Hurst is another possibility.
“In January you would have got big odds on us qualifying for Europe and Hearts were second in the league at that stage.
“It has been a great turnaround from us.
“I said at the time we always plan to finish the season strongly. We have done that for the last four seasons. This was no different. We have been fairly consistent and haven’t gone on a bad run.
“We picked up important wins, particularly away from home at places like Aberdeen.”
He added: “It is all about getting a level of performance to be competitive in games and get you over the line.
“They have won big games. Our away form has been tremendous. And we have 16 wins, which is equal to what we had last season.
“The players have been magnificent.”
Saints will be back in for pre-season training on June 10 – the day Scotland play England at Hampden.
“The least time we have had off previously was 23 days and this time it will be 19,” said Wright. “But we have enough know-how to deal with that.
“We get the balance pretty much right. We combine sports science and get all the data but ultimately myself, Callum and Alex use our experience to know when the players need a rest. We pay particular attention to recovery.
“A manager has to have a trust in his players and it has to be a two-way thing. We know they will look after themselves.”
Wright took a straight bat to talk of interest in Sheffield United playmaker Stefan Scougall.
He said: “We will be linked with lots of players and until anything is definite we won’t be able to say anything.
“We are speaking to Alan Mannus again today and the chairman has a meeting with Tam Scobbie’s agent tomorrow. Hopefully we will have something more definite on those two later in the week.”
Steven Anderson returns from suspension tonight.
