St Johnstone need to be more clinical against Hibs

St Johnstone need to be more clinical to get themselves back in the Premiership’s top six, Perth boss Tommy Wright has admitted.

The chances haven’t dried up for Saints in the last few weeks but the goals certainly have.

Wright’s men have only found the net once in the last seven games.

And tomorrow night’s clash with Hibs, who have jumped above them into sixth place, would be the perfect time to improve that statistic.

“I watched the Aberdeen game back and we had really good chances early doors,” said Wright.

“There were great balls into the box that we couldn’t get on the end of.

“Liam Craig doesn’t get any real contact with his chance. If he makes any contact from that close in, he scores. We started the game really well.

“You must be doing something right when you force 12 corners in the game and the opposition only get three.

“But the opposition were more clinical than us and that is why they won the game. The build-up to both of their goals, we can do better.”

Wright added: “It doesn’t matter that the run of games has been tough because I expected us to pick up points. We haven’t picked up enough.

“When you are in these runs every little mistake seems to be punished.

“And at the other end you seem to be lacking that cutting edge to put teams away when you are on top.

“We could’ve been 2-0 up before Aberdeen scored but we weren’t and that is down to us. We need to rectify it.

“We’ve kept a lot of clean sheets this season but we can’t rely on that to win us games.

“We need to turn the good possession and positions into better chances, and we need to start taking chances.

“We can’t rely on clean sheets and nicking a goal to get wins and points.”

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If Paul Heckingbottom’s first two games are anything to go by, Saints won’t have to worry about their opponents parking the bus.

“It’s set up to be a big game and it’s a massive one for both clubs,” said Wright.

“Hibernian are a club who, with their investment, should be top four.

“But we’ve done well against them and our best performance of the season was probably at Easter Road.

“The goal was late on but we controlled large parts of the game. We know you get a chance to play against them.

“Hopefully, when we get chances, we can convert them to win the game.

“I was impressed that Hibs scored four goals but Dundee played well offensively against them.

PREVIEW ⚽?| The Manager and Tony Watt have been speaking to #SaintsTV ahead of tomorrow night's Ladbrokes Premiership clash against @HibernianFC at McDiarmid Park.

Subscribers can watch both interviews in full now.

➡️ https://t.co/JAuaHgxFPq pic.twitter.com/ahX0vRZaME

— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) February 26, 2019

“It will be an open game and we need to be on the front foot to go and win the game.”

Wright has no fresh injury concerns.

“Tony Watt got a bit of time on the pitch and Michael O’Halloran trained a little on Friday and Saturday,” he reported.

“He will train again and hopefully he will be OK for Wednesday.

“You want everybody fit going into an important stage of the season.”