St Johnstone boss Derek McInnes will not allow his players to be distracted by the state of the McDiarmid Park playing surface as they attempt to replicate their impressive away form on their own patch.
The Perth side have an opportunity to get closer to sixth placed Motherwell when the sides meet on Wednesday evening.
There is also a Scottish Cup last 16 clash with Partick Thistle looming, as well as a backlog of postponed SPL fixtures.
Long-term work on the rutted pitch, which first became a problem in October, will have to wait until the summer but in the meantime McInnes is offering up no potential excuses for poor results.
He said, “It is a real frustration for us all but we are not apportioning blame here. We have all been shocked by the deterioration that has taken place.
“The chairman Geoff Brown wants nothing more than to have a surface the players want to play their football on. Everything possible is being done to make it better in the short term.
“It’s far from ideal and the pitch didn’t help us on Saturday against St Mirren, although it would be wrong to say that was the only reason we didn’t win.
“But there is no point moaning and bleating about it. We just have to try to overcome the conditions which face us. The bigger goal for us all is to make sure we get the results at home.
“We know what to expect from now to the end of the season. We just have to get on with it and that means we have to approach it with the right mentality.
“I was asked about the state of the pitch after the weekend game and it would have been foolish to ignore it.
“But now we all have to move on and focus on the importance of winning our home games. That is vital to this club and hopefully we can do just that.”
Midfielder Jamie Adams is doubtful for tomorrow after being hit by a sickness bug. If he trains today, though, he could yet be in contention.
Captain Jody Morris suffered a back muscle spasm against St Mirren but is fit and available.DefeatsSaints have already suffered two defeats against Motherwell this season.
But they have raised their standards since they last met, losing only once in eight games.
McInnes said, “We have put in a couple of poor performances against Motherwell this season, for whatever reason, but we go into this one in far better shape.
“On the plus side we have only lost to Celtic in our last eight matches, we are unbeaten in four and there have been plenty clean sheets.”
Teenage striker Stevie May could come into contention for his first start if McInnes opts to change a frontline that drew a blank at the weekend.
He said, “It is about the right game and the right time to start him. It is certainly something I am considering.”
Murray Davidson was singing from the same hymn sheet as his manager regarding the McDiarmid pitch.
He said, “Maybe the state of the pitch suits me better than some players given my style but it’s not great, to be honest. It really can make a fool of you.
“But we can’t use it as an excuse because it is the same for both teams, although neither us or St Mirren looked like scoring at the weekend.
“We have a run of home matches coming up and we will just have to try to adapt our game and maybe go a bit longer. We should put it to the back of our minds.
“I would rather win games than lose them playing nice football but we have to find the right mix.
“They are five points ahead of us so this is a chance to close in on the top six.
“There are a few teams close together and a few decent results can see you shooting up the table.
We weren’t good enough against St Mirren but we didn’t lose. If we can take four points from these two games that would be a decent return.
“Hopefully we can push on from here.””