Simo Valakari believes St Johnstone’s unfamiliar faces could be the key to edging their third clashes of the season with bottom six rivals.
Saints travel to Kilmarnock tomorrow in their first Premiership game since Valakari took his January window signing spree to eight new recruits.
Taylor Steven has also found himself figuring in the first team since a recall from loan at Cliftonville and is in the frame for Rugby Park.
The new-look side then host Hearts and Ross County before Dundee away in a crucial period for the Perth side’s survival chances.
Saints have beaten Killie twice this term already – 3-0 in August when Craig Levein was in charge then 1-0 at McDiarmid Park three months ago.
However, Valakari could field seven different starters from the team that won that November game thanks to Makenzie Kirk’s strike.
Valakari hopes the element of surprise can work in his team’s favour against familiar foes in the coming weeks.
He said: “I think it helps that we have a lot of new guys that they don’t know.
“Of course, you always get a little feeling about what the other team might do.
“You try to tweak in every match, depending on the opponent. Kilmarnock will maybe say that they have lost two times to us, so they are not going to lose again.
“And, for me, it’s always a totally new game. It doesn’t matter what has happened before.
“But our new guys have hit the ground running. All of them have responded to the challenge.”
Even before signing for the team at the foot of the Premiership, Valakari stressed to each of his new arrivals the vital importance of an instant impact.
Victor Griffith became only the second Panamanian to join a club in the UK.
Yet Valakari was at pains to advise him he would be afforded no leeway for a bedding-in period, such was the team’s relegation plight.
The response was impressive from Griffith, followed by eye-catching debuts from Swedish midfielder Jonathan Svedberg and Latvian defender Daniels Balodis among others.
He revealed: “A big thing we talked to them about, when going to make a contract, was there was no time for them to find their feet.
“They needed to adapt quickly. We didn’t have the luxury of two months to get ready for Scottish football or our way of playing.
“They have slotted right in. That’s credit also to the players we have here, making them feel welcome, taking them into the team.
“We have good players here but needed fresh faces to make us stronger. We are a better team.”
The only goal conceded in four wins in a row is Andy Halliday’s penalty for Motherwell.
A fifth consecutive victory would take Valakari’s men to within four points of Killie.
They’re currently five shy of Ross County who sit in the relegation play-off berth and travel to Motherwell.
Valakari said: “The good thing is there are many games to go and it’s in our hands.
“We must keep our head down and go game by game. That’s the only mindset that I want to keep going.”
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