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St Johnstone looking to end Highland hoodoo

Tommy Wright.
Tommy Wright.

Just last week Partick Thistle showed against St Johnstone that historical baggage can be cast off, by winning at McDiarmid Park for the first time in 22 years.

The Perth side’s poor run in Inverness is small beer in comparison, and only goes back a mere two-and-a-half.

But four defeats in a row, and two draws before that, isn’t a sequence of results that manager Tommy Wright takes any pride in.

And he hopes that it is their turn to draw a line in the sand.

“For whatever reason we seem to struggle up at Inverness in terms of results and performances as well at times,” Wright observed. “So that is something we have got to get out of our system.

“We have tried the overnight stays but it hasn’t worked either.

“You sometimes get grounds like that. Look at Partick. They hadn’t won at McDiarmid for 20 odd years until the weekend. So hopefully we get the flip side of it this week.”

Wright does not believe the Thistle defeat equates to a dip in form after their three victories on the bounce.

“The performance wasn’t that bad,” he pointed out.

“Fourteen points is a reasonably good start but if we had beaten Thistle it would have been a heck of a start for us. It would have got us right up there.

“It is still very tight. We are in a decent position. Every manager in the league can say they deserve more points so we are where we are.

“We are closer to the team in third place than we were a year ago, we are only six points behind Hearts which is nothing at this stage.

“But once you lose a game you want to win the next one. That is what we have to do in Inverness.”

A quarter of the way through the season, Saints still haven’t played a game in which they haven’t conceded a goal.

And that doesn’t sit well with their manager.

“It is good to be getting plaudits for how we are playing but I need a few clean sheets in there,” Wright admitted.

Steven Anderson could soon return to the side possibly as early as tomorrow.

“Ando is fit and very close,” Wright reported. “Everyone has done well in there but we still haven’t kept a clean sheet and that is the biggest irritant. So he is pushing for a start. That is what we are built on.”

The Saints squad will be the same as last week.

Wright said: “Chris Millar is making good progress but is ruled out of this one. There’s a good chance he won’t make the Morton game in midweek either.

“Mikey (O’Halloran) is raring to go after his foot problem flared up.

“There was a concern so we sent him for a scan. But the consultant reassured us.

“He gets us up the park, he is quick and he has been a match winner for us. He has had a lot of assists this season.”

John Sutton and Chris Kane will have to bide their time for a chance, then take it when it comes, according to Wright.

He said: “Kano and John Sutton are in the same position.

“It’s down to the form of Steven MacLean and Graham Cummins. Macca’s the leading scorer in the country. Cummins has got four goals and about six assists.

“It’s about taking your opportunity when you get it. It’s not complicated.”

Meanwhile, Wright believes that the next generation of potential first team players are flourishing at their loan clubs.

East Fife and Montrose have been allowed to keep Jason Kerr and Jordan Millar through to the end of the season.

“Both are doing well,” Wright said. “Other loans are up in January and we’ll reassess those. A couple will come back, which would allow others to go out.

“The loans are working very well for us.

“We’ve moved to a level that we’ve never been at before. We’ve got 10 players out on loan.

“Below the first team things are ticking along nicely.

“Ultimately the young players have to be better than the one who has the shirt. For example, at the moment, Craig Thomson is finding it hard to get in the team because he’s got to be better than Michael O’Halloran. That’s the reality.

“If they are better, it doesn’t matter if they’re 16 or 36. They’ll be in the team.”