Graham Carey has insisted that St Johnstone will approach Saturday’s Premiership opener against Hibs with confidence, despite their early exit from the Premier Sports Cup.
The midfielder netted a fine volley before the clock had struck the two-minute mark but it did not bring forth the goals that would have been expected after such a promising start.
Despite a dominant first half performance in which further goals seemed likely given the manner in which Saints peppered Ayr’s goal, it was the Championship side who carried more menace in the second period.
If there are concerns as the curtain comes up on the league campaign, Carey does not share them.
He has, however, acknowledged that the opening weeks of the season will be crucial in shaping St Johnstone’s season.
“I think the opening few weeks will be very important,” he said.
“It sets the tone for the whole season and hopefully we can get off to a good start.
“It’s difficult going straight into competitive matches. We only had one friendly and then it was straight into the cup.
“We do a lot of work on the training ground on tactics and the way we need to play.
“But new players need to know about others players, how they want the ball and how we can play together.
“We just need to be positive. As long as we keep a clean sheet, I do feel we have a lot of goals so we just need to be a bit more positive.”
Chipping in with more
Carey, one of this summer’s new arrivals, suggested that he can chip in with goals from midfield this term.
In addition to his early strike he came close too with a sizzling first half free-kick.
Stevie May started the weekend game despite toiling with illness but, with Theo Blair injured, the perennial issue of getting the ball into the back of the net was clear in the opening 45 minutes.
“I think with the experience we’ve brought in and the young lads coming through, we can have a really good season,” maintained Carey.
“It all starts next week and hopefully we can give off the league season with a win.
“The clean sheet was a positive and while there are a lot of things we need to work on, I think we’re going in the right direction.
“In the first half we created a lot of good opportunities but just didn’t have as many bodies in the box as we’d have liked.
“If we can get crosses in like we did against Ayr and get enough bodies in the box, we should score a lot of goals.
“It probably is a mentality thing but we just need to be a bit more positive in the final third and not be afraid to commit players into the box.
“I think myself and the other midfielders are guilty of not getting into the box and not doing the extra yard to get into the box, so that will be something we’ll look to do against Hibs.
“It was pleasing to get off the mark personally but to me goals don’t matter too much – it’s the team result.”
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