Brian Easton has seen a big change in Dundee United.
But the St Johnstone defender is hoping it will be the same old story of Perth dominance in the Tayside derby at the weekend.
In the last 15 games between the sides, the McDiarmid Park men have won nine and only lost two.
Most of those Saints success stories were under Jackie McNamara’s watch, however.
And Easton believes Mixu Paatelainen’s relegation scrappers are a different proposition.
“When we played United in McNamara’s last game in charge they were 1-0 up and I think we had a man sent off,” Easton recalled.
“But once we got the equaliser we knew we were going to win. You could feel them deflate.
“Up at Tannadice we won again but they were a totally different team. They were pressing and working hard. You could see the difference.
“They’ve picked up a few results since then and they’re in a much better position in the table.
“If they’re in touching distance at the split they’ll feel they’ve got every chance of staying up.
“If they beat us it would give them real confidence. They’d probably think ‘if we can beat them, we can beat anybody’. That’s how I would look at it if I was in their situation.
“It didn’t look great for them a couple of months ago. They looked certainties to go down. But it’s different now.
“They don’t let their heads go down.”
The former Hamilton Accies and Burnley man would be happy if the sight of St Johnstone blue brings out negative thoughts for the United boys.
“We’ve been their bogey team,” he said. “I don’t know why it is. It just happens in football. It was Hamilton for us last season and Partick this season.
“Over the last two or three seasons it’s been like that for us with United.
“Maybe it’s a psychological thing. If we go a goal up they’ll know how hard it will be to break us down.
“Hopefully we can continue our form from the last few weeks. If we do that we’ll fancy our chances against any team.”
Saints are in pole position to finish in the top six with just two gamnes left before the split, but Easton insisted that relegation-threatened duo United and Kilmarnock won’t be treated lightly.
He said: “When we beat Hearts everybody round about us seemed to pick up points as well which has kept things tight.
“But we’ve put ourselves in a great position.
“These last two games before the split will be tough ones.
“Yes, we’re playing 12th and 11th but Dundee United have been playing a lot better. They seem to have fighting spirit back in them and you could see that in the derby.
“And Kilmarnock are fighting for their lives because they don’t want to be dragged closer to United.”
Saints have recently picked-up injuries and suspensions to deal with. Steven Anderson will definitely be sidelined for the derby, with Murray Davidson and Danny Swanson doubts. Liam Craig is banned.
“It’s a bit frustrating,” Easton admitted.
“We were starting to get boys back after a tough time with the likes of myself, Dave Mackay and Chris Millar out.
“We weren’t in the best form and that was probably one of the reasons why.
“So it’s disappointing that, after getting most of the injured players back, we’ve got another couple of lads out, especially after the Hearts performance.
“That was us back to our best.
“We want continuity but I’m still confident that we’ve got enough depth in the squad to cope.”
One man who manager Tommy Wright has been able to count on all season has been Joe Shaughnessy.
And Easton believes the Irishman is a contender for Saints’ player of the year.
He said: “Joe’s been a mainstay of our team.
“He’s gone from right back to centre back and played virtually every game.
“I don’t know if this has been a season when a player of the year jumps out at you. Obviously there was Mikey O’Halloran when he was here. He caught the eye.
“But it’s been about team performances.
“I don’t know who I would pick but Joe will certainly be up there.
“Just keeping his place for the full season with the competition we’ve had this year has been pretty impressive.”