Frazer Wright will never take for granted St Johnstone’s league success, as the memory of fighting for survival at Kilmarnock still lingers.
There is far less pressure on the Perth side against St Mirren this evening than there will be on the relegation-threatened hosts. And that’s just the way Wright likes it.
He said: “The battle at the bottom end of the league is really intense and a lot will happen once the split comes about.
“I don’t know who will get sucked into the play-off place and the main thing from my point of view is that it won’t be us.
“We’ve managed to get ourselves into a position where the pressure is off us and it’s massive. I’ve had it before, I was at Kilmarnock where we went to the last day of the season and stayed up against Falkirk.
“It was the most stressful game I’ve ever played in because you know what the impact of it can be on the club.
“We drew 0-0 and Falkirk went down. After the game we went out and the lads were all just sitting about shattered because it had drained us so much.
“When you’re down there, you know if you make a mistake it can be so costly, not just in a football sense but also to the future of the club.
“At that time Killie had real money problems so it would have been a disaster. When you’re under that sort of pressure, it tests your concentration levels.
“This season anyone going down knows that it’ll be a real struggle to get back up because of how competitive the Championship will be next season.”
Wright stressed that just because Saints don’t have concerns themselves with what lies beneath them in the Premiership now that their top six status has been secured, it doesn’t mean they will be lacking motivation or that they’ve settled for sixth.
“Nobody expects us to finish higher than sixth but we’ll just keep trying to win games and see what happens,” he pointed out.
“Inverness are ahead of us and we’re looking to reel them in. It has been tough this year because Aberdeen have come back and so have Dundee United.
“So the bigger clubs are doing well and we’re just delighted to be in there with the likes of them, Celtic, Motherwell and Inverness for the last phase of the season.”
Wright added: “It’s great to be in the top six for the third year in a row, but that’s not the season done for us now.
“The first aim at St Johnstone every year is to stay up and, once we know we’re able to do that, then it’s getting the top six.
“Staying in this league is the most important thing for this club because of the budget we have compared to most of the other teams.
“Going down would be a disaster for the club financially so that’s the first aim at the beginning of any season.
“We’ve done that this year and are in the top six, so it’s a good achievement. “We have got it done with three games to go this season and that takes the pressure off.
“The next three matches are winnable matches for us and we’re looking to go into the Scottish Cup semi-final with a good run behind us.”