Tommy Wright was spot on with his post-match assessment.
Defensive errors have indeed crept into St Johnstone’s game over the last few weeks, and Saturday against Ross County was the worst example of it.
The skewed top six record/bottom six record thing, and the better points total away from home than in Perth, may actually be a couple of red herrings.
The fact that they’ve conceded most of their bad goals at McDiarmid and against the lower half of the Premiership teams of late is probably a coincidence. A bad goal is a bad goal whoever you lose it to and wherever it happens.
Wright has called on his players to take responsibility for the individual errors and there isn’t a better dressing room in the country. So that is a given.
But what is also a given is that no-one in the backline is now safe when it comes to his next team selection against Inverness in a couple of weeks.
Wright has shown with his midfield picks this season – and with the decision to select Zander Clark over Alan Mannus – that he doesn’t back away from a big call.
With Keith Watson coming back from injury and Liam Gordon waiting in the wings after doing very little wrong when he’s been given a first team chance, the defensive strength in depth might not quite be at the same level as the middle of the pitch, but it isn’t far off it.
The St Johnstone back five hasn’t been changed for seven straight games. It’s by no means certain that will extend to eight.
