Saturday’s Tayside derby at Dens may have ended in disappointment but St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright insists there were still plenty of positives to take from the display in defeat.
Saints looked to have secured a draw when Steven MacLean scored an 85th-minute equaliser only for the home side’s Sofien Moussa to net his second of the afternoon for what proved to be the winner for the Dark Blues shortly after.
The McDiarmid manager was unhappy with the manner of the two goals conceded by his team however there were other aspects of the match that did please Wright.
He said: “It was hugely disappointing in terms of the result but there were a lot of positives to take from the performance.
“And our fans were superb on Saturday, probably making more noise for the full 90 minutes than the home support. So it was disappointing for them that we ended up losing the game.
“Jason Kerr again was magnificent, Matty Willock showed what a good player he is, Chris Millar was good, Steven MacLean is going to give us everything through to the end of the season, as we would expect from him, and George Williams got into some excellent positions.
“We had good possession and were the more dominant team. But Dundee took their chances from set plays and from our point of view both goals should not happen at this level.
“We gave away stupid fouls with a lack of discipline and didn’t deal with a punt down the middle for their winner. It was poor, poor defending because Dundee didn’t put us under real, sustained pressure.
“For an away side to control big parts of the game and look comfortable we should have taken something from it. But we didn’t because we gave away two poor goals.”
Wright still has targets to achieve this season but he has already started looking towards the next campaign and the squad he hopes to have at his disposal.
He added: “We are one point off seventh and we want to finish in that spot.
“Looking towards next season, there will be changes to the squad. That is inevitable. But there won’t be eight or nine. That’s not what we need.
“I am looking for four, maybe five players, to come in and improve what is already a good squad.
“Three of the younger ones offered new deals have agreed in principle and we just need to get the paperwork signed off.
“There have been positive indications from senior ones and we see no reason why those with options won’t take them up.
“There are still one or two players we haven’t spoken to yet and that will happen over the next four or five days.
“The injury situation is improving at last. Stefan Scougall got 15 minutes on Saturday and is down for 45 minutes in the Under-20s match with Dundee United.
“David McMillan is getting 30 minutes or so. That is the plan for him and Callum Hendry should also get 45.”
