The fortnight off was a positive one for once as the confidence had taken a much needed boost before it thanks to our win over Hearts. There was no uncertainty over the manager this time, no rumours and no mischief making. However, while the pressure may have lifted a little at Greenhill Road, it will all be for nothing if we go back to our old ways tomorrow. The Jambos' points penalty means our start to the season wasn't quite as costly as it could have been, but now we must start recording wins on a more regular basis. Waiting another couple of months for our second win of the season is simply not an option.
Perhaps tomorrow isn't the best time to get it though as, for some reason, our home record against St Johnstone is utterly dire. In the last 10 years we have only managed to beat them twice in Paisley. Admittedly, we did spend a few seasons in different divisions but it's still ridiculously bad. One of the wins came last season in the Scottish Cup so we're still looking for our first league win over them since August 2004 when they were getting players sent off all over the shot and we managed to come out on top. They took the same approach last season and we could only draw, so they seem to be one of our bogey teams at the moment.
The success of St Johnstone in recent years has been used as a stick with which to beat our managers, be it Gus MacPherson or Danny Lennon. No one can quite work out how they have consistently finished well above us in the table - including the season after they won the first division. They probably have a bigger budget but surely not to the extent that they can afford not to be looking over their shoulders at us. So while on paper a home game against St Johnstone looks like it should be easy compared to a match against Dundee United or Aberdeen, it's anything but as they'll be expected to push for the top six while we'll be battling the drop. We may not like it but that's the situation we're in.
We've stuck with the same side for our past two games and in that time we've picked up four points and conceded just one goal. Unless we have any injuries we'll surely go with the same side again. I don't particularly like having a lone front man, but the introduction of Jim Goodwin to midfield means Paul McGowan, John McGinn and Kenny McLean can get forward to support Stephen Thompson when they can. It's not my preference, but it seems to have worked in the last few games so there's absolutely no reason to change things now - even if it means keeping Stephane Bahoken out of the side.
There's also no reason to mess things around at the back. Sean Kelly has done well since replacing the suspended Danny Grainger and deserves to keep his place, while Christopher Dillo appears to be a more composed young keeper than David Cornell. The pairing of Darren McGregor and Lee Mair is also doing a job, so Marc McAusland will be missing even if he is fit again. The recent changes to the system and line-up mean our bench is now relatively strong, Bahoken joined by the likes of Gary Harkins, Grainger and Jake Caprice. Gary Teale may not be on the bench though as he has an injury, while Marc McAusland will probably miss out too.
St Johnstone made what appeared to be a rather odd appointment during the summer following Steve Lomas' departure to Millwall. They handed the job to his assistant Tommy Wright, which didn't seem a particularly inspiring choice. However, it looked a great pick early on when they made it past Rosenborg in the Europa League and were then extremely lucky to lose to Minsk in the next round. The aim now for Wright will be to take the Saintees back into Europe again next season, although repeating the third place Lomas managed last year may be just out of reach. They had a winless run before the break but gubbed Inverness Caley Thistle in their last game – something not even Celtic could do.
At least Wright didn't have to spend his summer trying to find replacements for midfield duo Murray Davidson and Liam Craig, mainly because the former came back. Goodness knows why no one down south decided to take a punt on Davidson during the summer, but he's now back in Perth and should be a great asset when he's fully up to speed. David Wotherspoon seems to have been the replacement for Craig and has got off to a decent start, having struggled in his last few years at Hibs. Gary McDonald also arrived after leaving Morecambe, while Paddy Cregg seems to be doing much better for St Johnstone than he did for St Mirren - not that that would be particularly difficult. Chris Millar has hurt us in the past while Gwion Edwards is enjoying his second loan spell at McDiarmid Park.
Cregg isn't the only former Buddie we need to watch out for tomorrow. Nigel Hasselbaink, who swapped Saints just over 18 months ago, seems to be having a decent season and the word from the Saintees supporters is he's finally putting in a shift on a regular basis. However, the striker really grabbing all the headlines is Stevie May. Lomas punted him out on loan in each of the past few seasons while many fans wanted him to stay put. As he's already got seven goals and was attracting interest from Peterborough you have to say they had a point. It's probably just as well as Rory Fallon was hardly the most inspiring summer signing, although Steven MacLean is decent and has chipped in with a few goals - just as he did last year.
Despite being tanked by Dundee United in August, the St Johnstone defence is fairly strong. Frazer Wright and Steven Anderson have a good partnership, while Dave MacKay is one of the best rightbacks in the league - possibly more from an attacking perspective than doing work at the back. With Callum Davidson having semi-retired to become Wright's assistant Brian Easton was brought in over the summer, although it seems Tam Scobbie is the one getting most of the games at the moment. An injury to goalie Alan Mannus earlier in the season saw Steve Banks play his first competitive games for nearly three years, but the Northern Ireland international is now back fit and back to his best.
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