Nothing but hard graft and getting the basics right at both ends will lift St Johnstone out of their current slump, according to defender Steven Anderson.
The Saints stopper used the international break to reflect on a largely disappointing start to the season but has returned more eager than ever to help the Perth club climb the table.
The manner of Saints’ 2-1 defeat at home to St Mirren last time out particularly sticks in Anderson’s craw, so it’s little wonder the centre half is determined to put things right against Kilmarnock on Saturday.
He noted: “Obviously we’ve hit a few bad results, but I thought we were very unlucky against St Mirren. We’ve had time to think about the game and hopefully we can get back to winning ways on Saturday.
“It was just frustrating. I think every wee mistake is getting punished just now. Other days we probably wouldn’t get punished but to be fair the boy hit a wonder strike for their first goal.
“The second one was just a counter attack, but to be fair we should be defending better than that. All we need is a bit of confidence and one win is all it takes one win can kick you on.
“But when you get down to it, it’s got to be about hard work first and foremost and making sure we’re grinding results out and getting back to what we were doing last year.
“Obviously first half we were poor and I can understand the fans’ frustration, but second half they got behind us.
“We got the goal which hit off my shoulder and was pretty lucky, but I thought we were the team in the ascendancy and would go on to win the game.
“We had chance after chance but it just wasn’t our day. They broke on us and we were a bit nave going gung-ho.”
Earlier this week, Saints boss Tommy Wright told Courier Sport that no-one at McDiarmid Park is panicking about their current league position and Anderson is of the same mind set.
“It’s a strange one because I remember going seven games without a win a couple of seasons ago and we were struggling to get a result. Then we ended up beating Celtic and it just went on from there,” he explained.
“We just found a winning mentality after that and just kept going. We’ve got quality here but we just need to stop making mistakes that are leading to goals.
“That’s what’s killing us to be honest, and when we’re on top we need to start scoring. We’re not scoring enough goals, so if we can get out there and score goals we’ll turn things around.
“In this league, the first goal is massive because you’ve got something to hold on to. If we get the first goal on Saturday I think we’ll go on to win.”
Despite being tipped to struggle this season, Saturday’s opponents Kilmarnock have belied that tag and currently sit in fourth spot in the table.
Anderson believes the fact Killie have a new astroturf surface at Rugby Park and the fact they have racked up most of their points at home is no coincidence, although he hopes Allan Johnston’s men will suffer when they come out of their comfort zone in Perth on Saturday.
“Kilmarnock have got good players and a good manager obviously,” he continued.
“I’m not sure if their astroturf has been a factor for them but you’ve got to take every advantage you can.
“If we had it, it would be an advantage to us, so you want to build on things like that don’t you?
“Nowadays you’ve got to adapt to surfaces it is a bit frustrating when you go there and you think about the pitch, but you adapt. Players nowadays do.
“When I was at Dundee United we played in the Gussie across from Tannadice. That was nothing like the surfaces we are playing on now, but you can understand older boys being hesitant with their joints because it does take a few days to recover from it.
“But we’re at home on Saturday so they’ve got to come out, on grass, and see if it is a bit different.”