There was no travesty in St Johnstone finishing sixth in Tommy Wright’s last season at McDiarmid Park, according to the recently departed manager.
Indeed, had the Premiership campaign not been curtailed, Wright would have backed his team to go even higher.
Monday’s SPFL confirmation that Saints would swap places with Hibs as a result of a points-per-game calculation made it five top sixes in seven seasons for the Northern Irishman.
But as they were just three points behind Livingston with a game in hand and had only lost one match in nine, the Perth side had fifth in their sights, Wright insisted.
“It’s strange how it came about,” he said. “The whole season was strange!
“I always had total faith in my players and staff. The chairman deserves credit as well for not making me feel under pressure when we were on the bad run.
“And we’ve got top six now.
“Some people will argue we don’t deserve it but the form we were in, there was every chance we could have caught Livingston and ended up even higher.”
Now that over a fortnight has passed since Wright left Saints, he has had time to put the 2019/20 achievement into perspective.
“To be bottom of the table in December and end up in the top six is an incredible effort from the players,” he reflected.
“Apart from the Scottish Cup win, for me, this was the biggest highlight and achievement from the players.
“Against the background of it, reducing the age of the squad the way we did and to get into the top six is incredible.
“Whoever comes in will inherit a good young squad, a top six team to build on.
“I’d like to thank the players and my staff for what turned out to be another successful season.”
