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St Johnstone first half display at Kilmarnock was WORST Callum Davidson has seen – but players dug themselves out of hole

Callum Davidson on the touchline while St Johnstone manager
Callum Davidson insists he still enjoys a good relationship with Steve Brown. Image: SNS.

Callum Davidson labelled St Johnstone’s first half performance at Kilmarnock as the worst of his three-year tenure at McDiarmid Park.

But from a display that he believed would have merited any one of his 10 outfield players being taken off before the break, as James Brown was, his team dug themselves out of a Rugby Park hole to secure a precious point.

Davidson praised the response but bemoaned the need for it.

He said: “In the first half I asked the players to do certain things – play the ball forward, put pressure on them, ask questions of defenders, deal with first and second contacts and don’t give away cheap free-kicks and throw-ins near our penalty area.

“And we didn’t do any of them.

“We’d talked about Kilmarnock and what they’re good at and then allowed them to do all those things, which was disappointing.

“I was very annoyed at half-time because that’s probably the worst first 45 minutes since I’ve been in charge but what I can say is that I was pleased by the way they responded in the second half.

“They managed to regain their composure and it’s sometimes nice to pick up a point when you haven’t played as well as you know you can.

“It was a wonder strike by Drey (Wright) for the goal so we’ll take the point and move on.

“He’s probably been my stand-out player this season.”

Drey Wright scores. Image: Shutterstock.

On Brown being replaced by Connor McLennan following Killie’s opener, Davidson said: “It could have been any of them.

“I thought we could be a bit more positive by making that change but it could have been any of the outfield players who came off.

“Give Kilmarnock credit because they were good first half but our midfielders then started stepping on to the ball rather than going backwards and we got better.”

Injuries

Injuries disrupted Saints’ preparations for the match, with Adam Montgomery pulling out of Friday’s training session after hurting his calf.

Davidson also confirmed that Nicky Clark is probably out for the season.

“We had 10 players on the treatment table on Monday and some of them only came off it on Friday,” he explained.

“I was glad to get the likes of Cammy MacPherson and Andy Considine back on the pitch.

“Unfortunately, it looks as though we’ve lost Nicky Clark for the season. He has a high ankle sprain, which requires an operation. That’s a blow. He’ll see a specialist next week but it doesn’t look great.”

Not safe yet

Saints are still 10 points clear of bottom side Dundee United, and now eight above the play-off position.

“I don’t feel that we can stop looking over our shoulders just yet,” he said.

“I still want another couple of wins, even though results elsewhere went our way today.

“Top six looks like a tall order but we have some big games coming up and if we can have more performances like that second half I’ll be even happier.

“Zak (Rudden), Connor and David (Wotherspoon) all made an impact and will give me a selection headache for the next game.”

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