St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright believes his team can play without pressure in their league opener at Tynecastle.
Much is expected of Hearts on Sunday, and over the course of the Premiership season, and that is just the type of situation Wright’s players will enjoy, according to the Perth boss.
“Hearts had a magnificent season last year and Robbie had done a great job there,” he pointed out.
“I don’t think anyone thought they’d win the league so comfortably.
“Plenty people thought they’d do well with the players they have but not many expected them to win it by the margin they did.
“So it will be a big day for them, back in the Premiership and a full house at Tynecastle.
“So the focus will be on Hearts because it’s their day.
“That means we’ll go there will no pressure on us because they’re at home, they will have a full house and their fans will be expecting to see them get off to a flying start.
“There will be a great atmosphere and usually my players respond to occasions like that.
“So we’ll go there on Sunday, focus on ourselves and try to take the three points.”
Wright is happy to have Hearts back in the top flight after their one-year stay in the Championship.
“You want your biggest clubs in the league and Hearts are one of them,” he explained.
“So it’s good for the league but you have to earn it, which they did by winning the Championship last season.
“If you look at that league, I think you could easily have 16 clubs in the Premiership and be very competitive.
“That says a lot about the work the likes of ourselves, Inverness and Ross County, for example, have done in the last few years.
“Since a few of the bigger clubs have gone out of the league, we have competed well with the likes of Aberdeen, United and Dundee.”