Stevie May doesn’t believe Wednesday night’s clash with Motherwell will shape St Johnstone’s season.
But the Perth striker knows that beating one of the teams below them in the table will make Premiership life a good deal more comfortable now that the chasing pack have closed in on them.
Saints have lost seven games in a row but three of those have been against the Old Firm.
And May is confident that a trip to Fir Park will bring an end to a run that is numerically getting close to last season’s mid-winter one.
“Last year we were in a far worse position,” he said.
“This run of games we’ve had was really tough and we wouldn’t have been expected to take a huge amount of points from it.
“But we would certainly have liked to do a lot better.”
Felt Motherwell probably deserved a point yesterday and were certainly denied a penalty in the first half as the VAR shitshow continues.
Looked better once Crankshaw came on IMO.
9 without a win for the Steelmen now. They host St.Johnstone on Weds night.
That's massive.
— Pie & Bovril 🏴 (@pieandbov) January 29, 2023
Is this a season-defining fixture coming up then?
“We can’t let ourselves look at it like that,” said May. “Regardless of what the result of the game is.
“It’s so tight at the bottom that even if we won we wouldn’t be clear of the battle to stay up.
“It’s the same as far as top six is concerned.
“We do know how important it is to pick up points against teams like Motherwell who are in and around us.
“We’ll be disappointed with anything less than three points.”
Genuine signs of improvement
Talking-up the displays in back to back fixtures against Rangers isn’t hollow, according to May.
“Considering we had to play at Ibrox for an hour with 10 men I thought the boys did really well against Rangers for the second week in a row,” he said.
“We actually moved the ball as nicely as I can remember in a game there.
“Overall, it was a good performance without getting any points obviously.
“Saturday’s fixture is one of those that gets called a free hit.
“We’ve not got some huge ones coming up, starting with Motherwell on Wednesday night.”
May signed a contract extension at the end of last week so will have no off-field distractions in the last few months of the season.
Stevie May hitting the griddy at Easter Road on Friday night 🕺#cinchPrem | @StJohnstone pic.twitter.com/17ZnSr7BEs
— SPFL (@spfl) October 24, 2022
“In my head it was always going to get done,” said the former Aberdeen and Sheffield Wednesday forward.
“There’s a lot of things that go on at a football club and sometimes it just takes a bit of time.
“I’m very happy to get it done and there’s certainly nowhere I’d rather be than here.
“I’ve not been in the position of my contract getting to the last six months too often so I’m glad it’s been put to bed now.
“It’s not something that will be in the back of my mind anymore.
“Now it’s about focusing on the football and making sure the team starts picking up points.”
Another striker coming in
Saints are keen to recruit Zak Rudden before the Motherwell game.
Whether it’s the Dundee attacker or somebody else, May is braced for the competition for places in store up front.
“It’s something you always expect during a transfer window,” he said.
“If someone does come in, hopefully he can hit the ground running, score goals, help put points on the board and increase competition for places.
“We’re all pulling in the same direction here.
“We’ve scored a few late goals away from home this season. I got one at Motherwell.
“Another one of them from someone would be great on Wednesday night.”
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