Jamie Murphy knows that squads can splinter when the end of a season is in sight and the going is getting tough.
But this St Johnstone group isn’t one of them, he insisted.
Manager and players have admitted they are now in a Premiership relegation battle after an ill-timed form slump.
And Murphy believes that training ground and dressing room unity – regular starters and regular substitutes alike – will ensure they achieve their revised goal.
“I’m sure everyone wants to play more,” said the 33-year-old. “I am no different.
“You hope that you can do your best whenever you get the chance.
“To be fair to all the boys who haven’t really been playing, there’s no one in there who has chucked it.
“Everyone is trying their best every day to get in the team.
“If they get a chance at the weekend, I’m sure they will do well.
“I’ve been in squads over the years where players who aren’t playing are in bad moods and not speaking to anyone.
“It’s not like that here. This club has always been like that – a team-first place.
“You have to buy into that.”
Callum Davidson has pledged there will be changes made to his starting 11 at Livingston and Murphy is ready to respond if he gets his first such opportunity since early January.
“Whether it’s from the start, coming on or helping the team behind the scenes, I’ll do all I can,” said the ex-Scotland international.
“We won’t win every week so the team will change from time to time and players come in and out of form.
“You’ve just got to get on with it in training and support those ones playing if it’s not you.
“I’ve always been a team guy.
“When you don’t play it’s disappointing but I’ve never fallen out with a manager or anything like that.
“You have conversations, like I have here, about the team or myself or whatever.
“I always feel like I’ve been approachable and can talk to the staff over my career.”
Fir Park baptism
Murphy’s career started at Motherwell with a threat of relegation as the backdrop.
It’s an experience that has stayed with him.
“As a 17-year-old I came into it a bit of a dogfight at Motherwell,” he recalled.
“My debut was straight into a relegation battle.
“I remember when we were 2-0 up at home to St Mirren in the second last game of the season and we lost 3-2.
“We only just stayed up under Maurice Malpas.
“You wouldn’t say that’s fun. It can get to players.
“But you play football for competitiveness – we were all competitors – we don’t want to finish bottom or anywhere near it.
“We are going to do everything we can to keep the club up.
“If you’ve anything about you as a footballer when the battle comes then you are ready for it.
“We’ve got competitors.
“Some have been in these situations before.
“It’s up to all of us to keep us out of trouble. Two wins, you would hope, should be enough.
“We can finish seventh, and that’s what we’re striving for.”
Another year?
Murphy’s future beyond this season is an issue that will have to wait.
“The contract is still up in the air,” said the former Hibs and Rangers man.
“I need to speak to the club. There are some different clauses in there.
“I will speak to the manager once everything is sorted as a club and go from there.”
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