St Johnstone goalkeeper Elliot Parish has admitted that the Perth side are already looking for a “reaction” – just ONE game into the new season.
Saints suffered a painful midweek defeat to League One part-timers Montrose in their Betfred Cup opener.
And if they are to progress to the knockout stages they will probably have to beat Group B pacesetters Ross County in Sunday’s afternoon’s all-Premiership clash at McDiarmid Park.
Manager Tommy Wright made no attempt to sugar-coat the Links Park result and neither did debut keeper Parish.
“You want to win every time you play and even more so when it is your debut,” said the former Dundee man.
“There are no positives really. But if there is anything we can take from it maybe it’s a little kick-up the backside.
“And because it was the first game in the group we know if we win the rest of them we should go through.
“It’s just the second game of the season against Ross County and we are talking about needing a reaction.
“It’s a tough game football but that’s what we need on Sunday.”
Parish’s own performance was a good one. There was no stopping Terry Masson’s winner and minutes earlier he had tipped a Paul Watson effort that looked net-bound past the post.
“As soon as he hit it I thought it was going in,” Parish said of the goal.
“What a strike it was. If he was doing that every week he wouldn’t be playing at that level.
“There was a little warning a few minutes earlier with a shot I got a touch to.
“Fair play to them, they played well I guess but from our point of view obviously it was very frustrating.”
An injury to Zander Clark has given Parish his early chance to make his mark with Saints. Challenging an established number one is nothing new to the experienced Englishman.
“It’s easy for any goalkeeper who normally plays second fiddle to say they are there to stake a claim to the jersey,” he said.
“But everywhere I have been I have been potentially the back-up keeper and I have ended up playing.
“Hopefully it will be down to my form rather than an injury to Zander which has been the case in the last couple of games.”
With County winning their first two games and winning them comfortably, Parish knows that the Saints bounce-back is far from straightforward.
“It will be tough against County,” he said.
“Even in my first season up in Scotland when they were relegated they were a tough outfit.
“They are coming off the back of a good season so they are going to provide a real test for us.
“But we have a chance to put things right.”
