The brutal reality of St Johnstone’s Premiership predicament is staring the players in the face in terms of their meagre points total and the gap to the closest team above them.
But there also needs to be an awareness that failure on the pitch has consequences off it, according to veteran defender, Barry Douglas.
“The challenge is there for us,” said the former Scotland international, who made his return from a calf injury as a second half substitute in Sunday’s 3-1 defeat to Rangers.
“All the motivation is there when you take a look at the table – it’s livelihoods and that’s the reality of it.
“I think a lot of boys need to realise that.
“It’s not just about what we do on the pitch – it affects everyone else surrounding the club.
“There is still loads to play for.
“I think in this league that two or three consecutive games change the outlook of where you are in the table.
“I’ll be amplifying that in the dressing room – that it’s one game at a time now, starting in the cup next week.”
Mistakes and more mistakes
It’s proving easier said than done, but cutting out schoolboy errors would be a foundation upon which Saints could build a revival.
“Football is results-driven industry and when you don’t win you can criticise tactics, formations, everything,” said the ex-Leeds, Wolves and Dundee United man.
“But at the end of the day if you concede the goals that we’ve conceded, if boys are accountable for themselves – not just individually, it’s a collective as well – but there are a lot of individual errors, decisions that don’t help when you’re in this situation.
“Ultimately that leads to goals.
“There are a lot of small changes that make a big change in the big picture and that’s what we’re working towards.”
Reflecting on the 10-minute spell when Rangers scored three times, Douglas noted: “First half, you’re always going to give yourself a mountain to climb if you concede goals like that.
“Individually, it wasn’t good enough. Collectively we weren’t really at it either.
“Second half, our backs were against the wall and we have to take some kind of positives.
“We’ll take encouragement from how we defended in the second half.
“We got the goal and, who knows, maybe a bit more composure with the ball going forward we could have created more chances.
“I think that’s been a story of the season since I’ve been at the club. That lack of decision-making and composure in the final third.
“Maybe that comes with experience, I don’t know.”
Frustrating injury lay-off
Douglas has missed two months of football – at a time when his presence in the backline would have been invaluable to the Perth cause.
“It was difficult being out,” he said. “Trying to come in and help the boys and then getting a little bit of an unusual injury set me back.
“It’s been frustrating.
“I would hope my experience and leadership would be as valuable as my football ability in the next while.
“Of course, I’m not just in there to speak and guide. I’m in there to help the boys and I feel I’m still able to do that – otherwise I wouldn’t be here.
“It’s a challenge. There’s no getting away from that and it’s a different challenge to any other I’ve been involved in.
“Exciting for me nonetheless but of course we don’t want to be in this position.
“But it is what it is, the table doesn’t lie. We have to take it game by game and see where we end up.”
Douglas last started a game against Motherwell and he’s hoping to make his first XI comeback when the same opponents visit McDiarmid in the Scottish Cup on Saturday.
“The injury was a kick,” he recalled. “I actually played most of the game and then it didn’t really settle down.
“I went for a scan and it showed quite a severe tear in my calf. That’s why I’ve been out for so long.
“We had to be patient to allow it to heal.
“I need to give all that I’ve got, use my experience to help the boys, try and turn this around.”
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