Dan Cleary has taken responsibility for his red card, says St Johnstone team-mate Murray Davidson

Dan Cleary has taken responsibility for his red card in St Johnstone’s opening game of the season, according to team-mate Murray Davidson.

And the Perth midfielder believes it should serve as an early warning that maintaining their discipline will be a key aspect of Saints making this campaign a more successful one than their last.

Cleary was ordered off for an off-the-ball incident with Annan’s Tom Muir just before the half-hour mark on Tuesday night.

Even though Callum Davidson’s men continued to dominate possession, their sustained attacking threat was diluted as a consequence.

“We need to tighten up on our discipline,” said Davidson. “It was our first game and we can’t be getting people sent off like that.

“I have not seen it back, but from speaking to (referee) Don Robertson and Dan, he has raised his hands.

“If you do that then you give the referee an option.

“He has made the decision it is a red card and like I say it makes it more diff I’m not pointing fingers, but Dan knows and he has said.

“Whether it is a red or not we shouldn’t be giving the referee decisions to make, especially with it being so early in the game.

”It is something we need to work on.”

Cammy MacPherson unlucky

From one midfielder who likes a tackle to another, Davidson offered up a strong defence for the second Saints player to be sent off in midweek, Cammy MacPherson.

“Anyone can get sent off for a challenge,” said the veteran. “I think it is just two people going for the ball.

“He goes in and is slightly mistimed.

“I don’t think it is a red card.”

🎙 𝘾𝙖𝙢𝙢𝙮 𝙈𝙖𝙘𝙋𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 – 𝙋𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝘼𝙣𝙣𝙖𝙣

Cammy MacPherson gave his thoughts on last night's game against Annan Athletic to #SaintsTV#SJFC pic.twitter.com/j9xgUF1nfV

— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) July 13, 2022

Annan are now four points ahead of Saints in Group F but Davidson is optimistic that they can still rise to the top – even though they’ve left themselves no room for further slip-ups.

“Pressure is part and parcel of football,” he said.

“It is not the ideal start but our aim is to win our three games and end up with 10 points.

“If we do that we will be in with a chance of topping the group and progressing. That is the aim.

“You don’t want to be going out of the cup early.

“You don’t want to be losing your first few games in the league.

“It is still early and I think we showed that there were enough positives there.

“We played the best part of 60 minutes with 10 men and we were in complete control of the game.

“It is going to be tough. There will be times when Queen of the South will sit in on Saturday, and that is where it comes down to us as a team to be more creative and show that little more quality.

“We are confident that it will happen.”

Signings will come good

It’s too early to expect Saints’ new recruits to be fully integrated into the Perth side but Davidson feels the early signs are encouraging.

“It will take time,” he said. “You have to try and get minutes into them.

“We see it in training every day. Graham Carey and Jamie Murphy came on and showed they have good quality.

“Theo Bair has been really good pre-season, so we have options and wee Max looked sharp. Ali (Crawford) is Ali. They all have quality in the final third.

“If we keep doing what we are doing, getting to the final third, it is then up to us collectively to be a wee bit better there.”