Tommy Wright has admitted that his team face a character test, the like of which they haven’t had before in his time as St Johnstone manager.
Winless in their last six league games, with the sides below them in the Premiership starting to appear on their shoulder, the Perth side’s form graph is a worrying one.
On-pitch leadership was lacking in the latest defeat to Motherwell on Tuesday night as far as Wright is concerned, which isn’t something he will have said too many times as Perth boss.
“We need to do better when we are asked questions in games,” said Wright. “That is why our league form has struggled.
“Defensively as a team we need to do a lot better. We have given away too many cheap, individual goals this season.
“It probably is the biggest test of character for us. We need to start picking up results and concentrate on putting a run of results together.
“Ultimately we need to start winning games and picking up points. It is a test of character.
“It disappointed me on Tuesday night that I didn’t see too many leaders when we went 1-0 down. I did see it against Hearts on Saturday.
“The players are more than capable of responding to this test.”
The league campaign is on hold for a week, though, with a last 16 clash with Hearts at Tynecastle tomorrow next up.
“In the cup I will just take a result,” said Wright. “There is no point in performing and not getting a result – because you are out.
“From Hearts’ perspective normal order was probably returned last week. We will go into the game knowing it’s a ground we love going to, with a great atmosphere.
“We know it is win or lose. The motivation and focus should all be there.
“I imagine the players are hurting. They were hurting after Saturday and I could see that in the start at Motherwell.
“As a manager I didn’t see the second half performance coming but it did. Somehow we need to make sure we can play for 90 minutes. We haven’t done that often enough this season.”
David Wotherspoon returns to the squad after the one-game suspension he picked up as a result of his red card six days ago.
The injury lost isn’t getting any shorter, though.
Wright reported: “Liam Craig hurt his hamstring on Monday in training.
“It is something similar to what Liam had before. The last time he was out for 10 days and hopefully that will be the case this time.
“Stefan Scougall will be scanned today, both knee and ankle. His ankle is the biggest concern.
“It looks quite serious but until we get the scan reports we won’t really have a timeline or if anything needs done.
“Brian Easton is still out but he will get on the grass today. David McMillan and Callum Hendry are both still out.
“We probably haven’t dealt with the injuries as much as we have in previous years but it is part and parcel of the game. We need to deal with it better.
“George Williams will join us Friday but won’t be available for Saturday. He will be available for Celtic next week or a replay against Hearts if that is the case.”
