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Jacob Butterfield can see plan coming together to keep St Johnstone in the Premiership

Jacob Butterfield believes St Johnstone have recruited very well.
Jacob Butterfield believes St Johnstone have recruited very well.

Jacob Butterfield has been part of survival bids that have gone horribly wrong and spectacularly right.

And the English midfielder is convinced that St Johnstone have put the pieces in place to ensure, in their case, it will be the latter.

“At Luton (2019/20) we were at the bottom and ended up staying up on the last day of the season,” Butterfield recalled.

“We were strong favourites to go down with 11 or 12 games to go but put together a fantastic run.

“That came out of team spirit and hard work.

“If you’ve got a really good group of lads who believe in each other, things can galvanise.

“We’ve definitely got the players here to get the results we need.

“This is another tight-knit squad, like we had at Luton.

“Everyone gets on really well. Having players who have been at a club a long time, which we have, and know the club and the league inside out always helps at times like this as well.

“And the new players bring freshness, enthusiasm and different qualities.

“It’s a good mix.”

Bradford lesson

Even a relegation season on loan with Bradford City has provided worthwhile lessons for Butterfield to draw upon at McDiarmid Park as Saints seek to overtake Dundee and stay in touch with the Premiership pack by beating Livingston on Tuesday night.

“I went to Bradford on deadline day a few years ago,” said the 31-year-old.

“They were bottom of the league.

“We didn’t manage to stay up but I took a lot from that experience and learned how important it is to make sure that, mentally, you don’t get consumed by the bigger picture.

“The key is to just focus on the next game.

“Momentum is a big thing in football.”

Saints momentum

Talking of which, Butterfield believes Saints have a little bit of that after ending a sequence of 10 defeats on the bounce when last they played.

“Getting a clean-sheet and a point after the run we’d been on was a step in the right direction,” said the former Derby County man.

“We were disappointed the game was postponed at the weekend because we wanted to follow it up quickly but now we’ll try to take the positives and the good aspects of the Dundee game into the Livingston one.

“We’ll look to go one better and get the win this time.”

Saints’ January recruitment has impressed Butterfield.

“At Barnsley I can remember our squad getting decimated in January and our season going in the wrong direction after that,” he said.

“I got injured, Danny Drinkwater got sold to Leicester and Ricardo Vaz Te went to West Ham.

“What’s happened here is the opposite.

“The manager has improved the squad and we should be better and stronger because of it.

“I think we’ve signed some real quality.

“Everyone is feeling very optimistic. The focus and intent is there to turn this around.

“We’ve got a good manager and a good squad. There are plenty of reasons to be positive about the challenge in front of us.

“We’ve had meetings individually and collectively about how we can turn things around. Everyone wants to take ownership.

“I’ve been impressed with the new lads.

“They are all comfortable in possession and willing to accept the ball. They all have that in common.

“The manager has recruited very well.”

Central midfield versatility was lacking a few weeks ago but that’s no longer the case.

“The manager likes his midfielders to play in different roles and be flexible,” said Butterfield.

“I’ve had a fairly long career to this point, playing a lot of football – and it is definitely different up here to anywhere I have played before.

“It’s very fast-paced, full on.

“But I am getting used to it now and figuring out how I can be most effective here and doing the best job for the team.

“Match fitness and sharpness comes with games. I feel I am getting into my rhythm now.”