Fan fury over St Johnstone’s controversial Scottish Cup ticket decision won’t impact what the Perth players are doing on the pitch, according to James Brown.
And the man who silenced two and a bit stands’ worth of Rangers supporters in November with his wonder strike in a famous Saints win will be doing his best to quieten even more of them later this month.
A Friday afternoon announcement that the January 21 visitors will be given McDiarmid Park’s East Stand, and that the cost of entry will be £30 and £20, hasn’t gone down well.
And the Fair City Unity section of the home support made a first half protest in the Dundee United match on Monday.
Manager Callum Davidson has expressed his sympathy but Brown pointed out that it hasn’t become a dressing room talking point.
“Honestly, it’s not something we have spoken about,” said the former Millwall man.
“As a player you just want to play in front of a full house.
“If there are more people shouting abuse at me, the better! We will take it.
“It is the club’s decision but I would rather play in front of a full crowd. It is up to them.
“I don’t think it puts us at a disadvantage.
“We are on the pitch and you try to block out what is going on up in the stand. It is 11 v 11 and it doesn’t change whether there are five people here or 10,000 people here.”
League form needs to change
Before that cup clash, Saints have to sort their league form out.
They have now lost three games on the bounce and form has deserted them.
The back-to-back festive home matches were a grim experience for Perth fans.
“It was very frustrating,” said Brown regarding the 1-0 defeat to United.
“We were poor, there is no doubt about that. It must have been a tough watch in the stands because I don’t think either team really offered a lot.
“We can’t dwell on it.
“I should have scored (with a back post header when the score was still 0-0).
“We also had chances at the end when their keeper made a decent save. So even when we were playing as poorly as that we might have got a result.
“It just wasn’t to be.
“It is one of them.
“It happens and we have to put it behind us.
“We started poorly at Celtic, against Hearts and then against Dundee United. I don’t know what the answer is.
“There is not a lot to say. We just have to put it right.”
Three can’t become four
Saints have managed to prevent bad spells of form dragging on for any longer than three matches this season.
And Brown knows the importance of stopping the bleeding at Pittodrie on Saturday.
“There has been a lot of external noise about how well we have started the season and then within a week we have lost three games in a trot,” he said.
“We won’t get ahead of ourselves and we know that there is a long way to go.
“The least we can try and do is put it right at Aberdeen this weekend. That is all we can focus on. We need to get back to winning ways.
“There are a lot of boys still here from last season. It was horrible and we don’t want to put ourselves in a position we shouldn’t be in this season.
“We will do everything we can to get back to winning and push for that top six.”
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