Craig Bryson had no problem with Callum Davidson’s blunt assessment of what needs to improve for St Johnstone.
The veteran midfielder believes the Perth boss hit the nail on the head with his “hard work”, or rather the lack of it, post-Motherwell dressing room critique.
And Wednesday night’s Premiership basement clash with Ross County provides the perfect opportunity to show that the players have taken the message on board.
Asked if his manager’s straight-to-the-point Fir Park verdict was hard to stomach, Bryson said: “Not when it’s true. Not when it’s true.
“When you’re in the situation we’re in, you do have to work hard. You do have to put your body on the line – win first balls, second balls.
“We need to find a win somehow to get out of this run we’re on, even if it’s a scrappy 1-0.
“We all have to stick together.
“There’s a huge incentive for us on Wednesday that if we win, we go off the bottom of the league.
“We can’t keep looking at other results when we come in.
“We have to start finding a way of winning football matches.
“Hopefully that happens on Wednesday by doing the basics right.”
On a personal note, Delighted to make my 600th career appearance today pic.twitter.com/essDVrbYhF
— Craig Bryson (@cbryson44) December 18, 2021
Bryson, for whom Saturday’s match was his 600th career appearance, added: “We had some half-decent spells in the game but obviously goals change it a fair bit.
“We got into some good positions but never really had anyone on the end of them.
“In the end Motherwell ran out quite comfortable winners.”
Davidson will be hoping Bryson and new signing Jacob Butterfield combine as effectively for Saints as they did with Derby County a few season ago.
“We’ve played together before in a slightly different formation,” said the former Kilmarnock and Aberdeen man.
“We both know what we’re doing in there but so do Liam (Craig) and Murray (Davidson).
“I think we’re OK in that area with the experience we’ve got.”
No goals again
Nine league goals in 18 matches is an utterly miserable statistic and Saints didn’t come close to breaking the double figure barrier on Saturday.
“We need to have more belief,” said Bryson.
“I think we’re getting into some good areas. Maybe we’re not picking the right pass or the right cross.
“We’re going to have to find a way to change that because obviously if we’re not scoring goals we’re not winning games.
“The number of goals we’ve scored isn’t good enough.”
