Drey Wright isn’t a fan of mid-July competitive football.
But the St Johnstone star insisted nobody at McDiarmid Park is seeking excuses for the Perth club’s second successive early Viaplay Cup exit.
And there will be more than pride at stake when Saints face Stirling Albion in Saturday’s last game of their group.
“I’ve never been a big fan of the early competitive start,” said Wright. “It was such a change coming up from England at first.
“You get six, seven weeks off and play friendlies then go into the league.
“This is only the second time I’ve actually been involved. I was injured in my second year here so missed the groups and at Hibs we had Europe.
“It’s not something I’d miss.
“We had a long season last year, not finishing until the end of May and only had a few weeks off.
“But it’s no excuse. We didn’t perform well enough. It’s good to see the back of the group stages but we’d definitely liked to have got through and have a knockout game to look forward to.”
Wright added: “This obviously isn’t how we wanted, planned and expected things to go.
“That’s down to us. It’s not good enough. We’ve started the campaign slowly and been sloppy. We’re really disappointed to be out the cup this early.
“The league starts next week so we’ve got this game to hopefully put things right and there are spots up for grabs in the team.
“That, I’d imagine, would be the main motivation for the lads going into this game.”
Right-back days may soon be over
With James Brown likely to be fit soon, Wright’s stint as a right-back is likely to be a short one.
His pace and skill will be needed higher up the pitch.
“Browny’s the natural right-back in the squad so that will help in terms of me playing further forward,” he said.
“But on the flip side I don’t mind playing there.
“I probably get more of the ball.
“You’re involved right at the start of things. So I enjoyed that side of it.
“But it will be good to get back working further forward.
“The manager spoke to me before the Alloa game to me to say he needed me to play at right-back which I am more than happy to do to help the team.
“With the injury list, we don’t have the squad to cover all the outgoings at the moment.
“A few of the young boys have been in and about it and done really well, made a good impression.
“They’ll be looking for more opportunities but I think the senior boys have, not quite let themselves down, but know that there are a few more gears to go through to get to where we want to be.”
