The St Johnstone players don’t need to be told that they passed up a golden opportunity at the weekend to crank up the pressure on Hearts and Rangers.
But they also don’t need to be told that the damage done by defeat to Kilmarnock can be swiftly rectified at Ibrox tonight.
Striker Steven MacLean admitted that failing to make ground on the third and fourth placed sides, both of whom have greater worries than their own, was “the most frustrating thing” about Saturday afternoon.
“The management had their say and we had our say,” he added. “That’s the good thing about it, we are all in it together and we all want the same thing.
“We know where we want to go.
“I’ve seen him (manager Tommy Wright) lose it a few times but Saturday was up there with the worst. It’s part of football. I’ve seen plenty of them and if you can’t handle it then you’re in the wrong industry.
“It’s about how we react now and putting on a good performance at Ibrox would go a long way to doing that.
“If you had offered us this position at the start of the season we would have taken it.
“Everyone knows the budgets at the likes of Rangers and Hearts compared to us, but we want to push on.
“We won’t use that as an excuse. There is a real opportunity for us and we want to kick on and take it.”
