St Johnstone have a “nothing to lose” mentality, according to Barry Douglas.
It’s a mindset that will hopefully serve them well against Celtic on Sunday and in their battle to turn the Premiership pressure up on the clubs within catching distance.
“The reality is it will take two good games from us and two bad games for the team above us,” said the veteran defender when assessing the five and six-point gap that exists between Saints and Dundee and Kilmarnock.
“The fact we’re in the conversation to get off the bottom is a positive for us.
“Yes, it’s still a big ask and we need factors that are out with our control.
“But having played all the teams around us I’d be confident getting a result against any one of them.
“I would imagine it’s tougher for the teams above us.
“We’re coming from a perspective that we’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.
“If we can pick up results the pressure will definitely swing on to them.”
Douglas, who came off early in last weekend’s defeat to Hibs as a precaution, knows that the odds are stacked against Saints for Sunday’s clash with the champions in waiting.
“I’m under no illusions this is going to be a really difficult game,” said the former Wolves and Leeds United man.
“We don’t face their calibre of player week in and week out.
“They’ll need to have an off-day, and we can only make sure we show good habits and hopefully get some chances to score goals.
“It’s an exciting game to look forward to – the chance to test yourself against the best players in the country.
“We’ll not put pressure or expectation on ourselves.
“They are beatable, but we need to do a lot right to give ourselves a chance.”
Mistakes
Saints shot themselves in the foot last weekend, with poor decision-making resulting in all three goals.
The general picture has been of the error-count decreasing since the turn of the year, however.
“Mistakes haven’t been anything like as frequent as they were a few months ago,” said Douglas.
“That comes from the confidence the players have built up, and the buy-in the manager has got for the way he wants us to play.
“Mistakes still can happen – as we showed against Hibs. Unfortunately, they were clinical with their finishing.
“We need to eradicate those mistakes and do the right things.
“Football is as much a psychological game as it’s physical.
“You need to get your focus back.”
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