Graham Carey is convinced St Johnstone have the makings of “really, really good side”.
The Perth playmaker has seen enough in the three Premiership game so far – even though two have ended up in defeats – to be confident that this season will be different to the previous two.
Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Dundee United was a bitter pill to swallow for Saints given they spurned a glorious opportunity to take the lead and then shot themselves in the foot.
But Carey remains optimistic about the bigger picture.
“There were a lot of positives in the game,” he said.
“We just need to be a bit more streetwise and a bit more clinical in front of goal.
“I think we’re very close to being a really, really good side.
“We’ve got a lot of athleticism in the right areas and have some experience and pace in the team.
Their keeper pulled off a great save from me. That was the kind of day we were having.” St Johnstone’s Graham Carey.
“It’s still early because new players have come in but we’ve shown that we have a lot of potential as a team.
“And if we keep working hard together, being together and working as a unit then we will be all right.
“Compared to last season, on chances created and crosses into the box and even possession, it’s been a lot higher.
“It’s more enjoyable when we have a lot of attacking players in the team.
“We want to play attacking football. But we showed last week against Rangers that we can be good defensively.
“We just made a couple of mistakes against United and got punished. It could have been 0-0 and a good point.”
Only one team was ruthless
Mistakes were made by both sides but the hosts were more efficient in punishing them.
“We limited them to not many chances at all,” said Carey.
“And we had a big chance to score (when Andre Raymond skied a shot over the bar after Benji Kimpioka had cut-out a slack back pass and hit the post).
“To be fair to Andre, he said the ball was spinning as it came back off the post.
“He’s probably not got himself into many situations like that in his career, anyway.
“He’s disappointed he didn’t put that into the back of the net. It would have been big for us going in at half-time 1-0 up and feeling quite comfortable.
“Second half, we wanted to lift it by five of 10 per cent.
“Their keeper pulled off a great save from me.
“That was the kind of day we were having.
“But, at the end of the day, we gave away two really soft goals and couldn’t put the ball in the net at the other end.
“It was poor communication for the first one and the second was just a mix-up between goalkeeper and defender.
“That happens sometimes. But at this level if you don’t take your chances, you’re going to be punished.”
Sidibeh’s big lesson
The hangover for Saints will be the lengthy suspension of Adama Sidibeh, after he picked up two red cards, one for violent conduct.
“After the second yellow, he shouldn’t react the way that he did,” said Carey.
“But I think he’s probably a bit unlucky with that second yellow card.
“I don’t think it’s intentional.
“If he misses a couple of games, that’s fine.
“But he’s going to miss I don’t know how many now, and that’s disappointing.”
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