St Johnstone must “go for it”, according to Drey Wright.
The Perth side’s 1-0 defeat to Aberdeen, coupled with Ross County’s late victory against Hibs, has seen them drop two points behind the Highlanders with just three matches left in the battle to avoid the play-offs.
Wright, who made his first start in six months at Pittodrie, agrees with his manager that Saints now face a run of “three winnable games”.
But the margin for error is wafer thin.
“We still have them to play and it is in our hands,” said the 28-year-old.
“We got away with one when we lost to Hibs and they lost to Livingston.
“But it’s not going to happen like that until the end of the season.
“We can’t rely on other teams. We have to do it ourselves.
“We’re going to have to go for it. We’re running out of time.
“We have three games left and they are winnable games in our eyes.
“First we go to Livingston and we need to start fast like Motherwell did against them.
“Hopefully we get a few breaks, which we didn’t get today and we get to put the pressure back on County when they come to our place.”
Ready for a full game
Wright was taken off just after the hour-mark but insisted he’ll be ready to complete a whole game if selected next weekend.
“I was hoping to be back for the beginning of March, so it has been a longer time coming than I would have liked,” said the former Hibs man.
“When I came off, fitness-wise, I felt OK.
“Maybe the manager saw something different. We changed the shape at the time.
“Whether it was to protect me or not I’m not too sure.
“I wasn’t happy with my sharpness or how I defended one v one today.
“On the ball I felt OK and I am ready to play 90 minutes if needed.”
Wright is one of many Saints players whose long-term future is uncertain.
“It’s our careers at the end of the day,” he said.
“A lot of us, myself included, are out of contract at the end of the season.
“I’m sure it makes it a lot easier getting a job if you haven’t been relegated or even been in the play-off.
“None of us want to go into the play-offs.
“We shouldn’t need any more motivation. We have a massive three games in the space of a week.”
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