With heavy rain forecast for Perth on Sunday morning, St Johnstone’s McDiarmid Park pitch and players will both be tested when Hearts come to town.
Head coach, Simo Valakari, can’t do anything to improve the overhead or underfoot conditions for the lunchtime, live TV Premiership clash.
But team “adaptation” on a couple of fronts will be key to securing a crucial victory.
“We have a clear idea of how we want to play,” said Valakari.
“We want to play possession-based football, attacking with passes through every third of the pitch.
“Most of the time it’s about adaptation.
“If an opponent is pressing is high, that’s what we have to do – adapt.
“It’s the same with the field – if it doesn’t allow you to play the way you want to, you need to find another solution.
“We won’t go into the game thinking about the pitch because that would be giving ourselves an excuse.
“The pitch is playable, and everybody here is working hard to make it better in difficult conditions.
“We’ve won three games in a row here.”
Saints face three games in six days, with matches against Ross County and Dundee to follow.
The last time there was a congested fixture list, the wheels came off their league campaign in spectacular fashion.
Valakari believes his squad is in better shape to cope with a more intense workload this time around, though.
More options
“We have analysed what happened before and have tried to find reasons,” said the Finn.
“We know we can’t afford to have the kind of run that we had over the Christmas period again.
“But I feel that we have more options now.
“We can rotate to bring fresher players in if we need to.
“We’re in a better position.”
Benji Kimpioka will miss the game through illness, while Victor Griffith is out with an ankle injury.
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