After our good run through October and November our form has nosedived. Last week's defeat, while expected, means we've managed just one win in our last eight league games and haven't won away from home since the start of November. It's pretty poor stuff and the demolition at the hands of Celtic will only have lowered the mood further. We have to react, pull ourselves together and put in a performance tomorrow that gives us some hope - because that relegation play-off place is suddenly rather close again.
For some reason St Johnstone have been a bit of a bogey team for us in the last few years. We've only beaten them a couple of times since they were promoted in 2009 and they have finished above us every year. That has been a source of real frustration to many fans who don't see the Perth Saints as being a bigger club than ourselves and one we should be capable of beating - both on the park and in the table - far more often than we have done. However, they probably do have a bigger budget than ourselves (how much bigger is open to debate) and have made extremely good use of it thanks to getting the right players and managers.
Despite that, there's no reason why we can't return from McDiarmid Park with something to show for our efforts. It's not a daunting place to go, like Tannadice is this season, and there is absolutely nothing to be scared of. We've already beaten the Saintees once in an exciting game and they are a team we're looking to emulate. To do that we need to start beating them regularly, not just once every few seasons. We've not won at Perth for a few years and we could do with setting that straight as we look to push away from the relegation battle. Their form is almost as bad as ours, with one win in seven, which no doubt means we'll help them out!
It'll be interesting to see who lines up in our midfield tomorrow. John McGinn is suspended - partly because of a booking he picked up in a game that was abandoned - while we'll have to make do without Kenny McLean for a number of weeks know that he's had an operation on his knee. We have Jim Goodwin back so he can play, but he's a rather different player to McGinn. Paul McGowan is available while Conor Newton is staying put so things aren't as bad as they could have been, although Danny Grainger is likely to be on the left once more.
We could do with a few other changes to freshen things up. We didn't swap things about much during the busy festive period - partly because our options were limited - and you could tell our players were rather tired by the end of it. Admittedly, that doesn't explain what happened last week, but we could do with giving players rests. Steven Thompson is supposedly carrying a knock and is looking tired after starting every game, but we don't really have anyone that can replace him. It seems Danny Lennon felt our youngsters didn't have the best of days against Celtic so it wouldn't be a surprise to see David van Zanten or Lee Mair come back in – although the manager is supposedly trying to offload the latter once again. We could really do with Gary Teale and David Barron back but that doesn't look as if it'll happen any time soon.
If I'm honest I thought St Johnstone had made a strange move in the summer by appointing Tommy Wright as manager. Their previous three appointments had been Owen Coyle, Derek McInnes and Steve Lomas - three young, ambitious managers who had contacts and wanted to use the club as a stepping stone to a move to England. Wright isn't exactly young in footballing terms and promoting an assistant can have mixed results, After a good start, including some impressive displays in Europe, their form has slipped a bit of date. Top six isn't out of the question but Europe surely is.
If they are to pull off the impossible and snatch a Europa League slot they'll have to ensure Stevie May stays at the club. A few clubs have been sniffing around the young striker in recent months and it seems a case of when, rather than if, he decides to try his luck in England. However, to give him his due he has signed a contract until the end of next season, meaning if and when he goes his club will get a fair whack of money for him. Despite his young age he's incredibly strong and isn't exactly slow, which partly explains how he's managed 15 goals so far this season. He's one of the most exciting strikers to have broken through in Scotland in the past few years and it'll be interesting to see if he can force himself into the national side any time soon.
We'll have to watch out for two of our former players tomorrow, although if you can remember Paddy Cregg playing for us you're doing well. He was with us during Danny Lennon's first season but didn't exactly do a lot and it was a bit of a surprise to see him return to Scotland at the start of last year, but since then he's fitted in well. On the other hand, Nigel Hasselbaink has scored against us a few times since leaving us 18 months ago and seems to take great delight in doing it. Steven MacLean also on the books, although he's currently out injured. Signing Rory Fallon was rather strange though as he'd been poor at Aberdeen and has only managed one goal so far - no prizes for guessing who that came against - so it's little surprise he's been told to do one. Wright has brought in former Bolton youngster Michael O'Halloran this month, the striker making his debut against Ross County last week.
The midfield also has plenty of attacking intent after Murray Davidson - eventually - signed a new deal. The former Livingston man tried to get a gig in England during the summer but failed, so ended up staying in Perth. He's a good player and deserved his Scotland call up last season, but the Saintees seemed to be doing pretty well without him as David Wotherspoon started the season in terrific form after escaping from Hibs. Gary McDonald and Cregg help hold things together. Lee Croft has also returned, this time permanently, after being on loan from Derby in 2012. I remember him scoring a cracker in Paisley and also having a rather nice looking WAG from one of those awful reality shoes cheering him on in the main stand. Sadly they seem to have broken up since then. As if the former player curse isn't bad enough we also have to cope with a former Morton player in Chris Millar. He hasn't scored yet this season but has managed a goal or two against us in the past.
In my humble opinion, the Saintees have one of the best - and most under-rated - rightbacks in the division. Dave Mackay has been terrific since he moved to St Johnstone after their promotion and would probably have had a Scotland call-up if he was a few years younger. He's solid at the back and likes to get forward to fire in some crosses and the odd goal - the ideal combination for a rightback. I'd have liked us to move for Brian Easton during our annual summer leftback search but instead he went to Perth to fight it out with Tam Scobbie - Callum Davidson having all but retired. In the middle Frazer Wright - sent off against us in October - is likely to be joined by Steven Anderson, who is fit again after dislocating his thumb in September. Their absence saw Bosnian Saniel Jahic brought in, although Gary Miller did get a run too. Alan Mannus, like Mackay, seems to be under-rated, although while he is a good shot stopper I do think he's a tad shaky on crosses.
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