St Johnstone will be playing pressure-free football as they attempt to reel in Livingston and possibly qualify for Europe, according to manager Callum Davidson.
The Perth side were the last to secure a top six place after the late drama in their weekend game against Ross County and St Mirren’s clash with Hamilton saw the two teams swap places going into the post-split phase of the Premiership season.
Saints have already ensured this will go down as one of the most successful campaigns in the club’s history by putting the Betfred Cup in the McDiarmid Park boardroom and making it an incredible eight top-half finishes in a decade.
The shackles are off as Davidson’s men prepare to put the cherry on their already sickly sweet 2020/21 cake by overhauling their recent cup final opponents, who are currently four points in front.
Should they do it and should a top four team win the Scottish Cup, they’ll earn a spot in the newly-formed Europa Conference League.
“You have to reset your targets,” said Davidson. “Obviously the most recent one was to get into the top six, which we’ve done.
“The fixture list is out now and we can plan what we’ll do from there.
“It’s going to be enjoyable. Now that we’ve got into the top six we want to win as many matches as we can.
“You can look at it and say that the Livingston game will be one we’ll probably have to win. Hopefully there’s a lot at stake by the time it comes round.
“It will be difficult because two of your five matches are against Rangers and Celtic and all the other games are tough as well.
“The worst we can do is finish sixth and we’ll be giving everything we can to get to fifth.
“I’m not somebody who thinks: ‘I’m happy with what we’ve done’. You need to carry it on because it will feed into next season as well.
“This isn’t pressure football – trying to get into Europe is a lot more enjoyable than trying to stay in the division.
“To be guaranteed sixth and not have the pressure that is involved with being in the bottom six when it is so tight is great.
“Now we have the opportunity to look upwards.”
There have been several examples of a League Cup-winning side suffering a form dip in the wake of emotionally draining Hampden heroics. You certainly couldn’t put Saints into that bracket.
“It says a lot about my players that they didn’t allow that to happen,” said Davidson.
“Looking back, it was good that we had games that really mattered after the final. We knew the next three matches were all like finals.
“It might have been harder if we’d not had anything to go for.
“Some people question the split but look at the excitement at the weekend. Obviously, now that we’ve sneaked in, I’m an even bigger fan of it!
“Look at how much it would have meant to St Mirren. It’s the same for ourselves, Livingston and the other clubs who were trying to get there. That’s what we strive for. That’s like winning the league for us.
“The biggest thing for me is getting there with the style of football we played.
“We haven’t just defended and tried to nick points. We’ve been aggressive and gone out to attack teams and play in a way that will excite our fans. It’s been the same throughout the season.
“Sometimes against the likes of Rangers, Celtic, Aberdeen and Hibs you have spells when it’s about how you defend but we’ve always tried to take the game to our opposition.”
Saints were six points behind St Mirren with three pre-split matches left and had Dundee United between themselves and Jim Goodwin’s team.
Davidson knew there was little margin for error.
After the final, the big game for me was the Hamilton one.
“After the cup final we thought we’d either need to win all our games or, minimum, get seven points to have a chance,” he said. “That proved to be the case.
“What a magnificent achievement it has been from the players to go from where we were earlier in the season to finishing in the top six.
“Because there is so little between a lot of the teams it’s hard to move a long way up the table. I’m just glad that we’ve managed to do it at the very end.
“The first time I’ve been able to say we’re safe is now, which says a lot about how close it is in the bottom half. It’s unbelievably tight.”
He added: “After the final, the big game for me was the Hamilton one. We needed that late goal from Guy (Melamed) and the point it got us.
Dennis Bergkamp who? 🤫 pic.twitter.com/2Dl2bMltNd
— King of Perth 👑 (@ManLikeMelamed) March 4, 2021
“That took things on to the Hibs game. The lads were dead on their feet in the last 20 minutes after playing Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday but coming through that week with the cup victory and four points was a brilliant effort.
“It showed again how important a squad is – a lot of players were used over those three games and they all played their part.
“It has been a key part of our success.”
