TON IT UP PEDRO
MacLean: Rangers gaffer should plug his leaks instead of trying to upset Saints
STEVEN MacLEAN has laughed off Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha’s “mind games” after he compared St Johnstone to Morton.
The Gers gaffer told the club’s TV channel that drawing with Jim Duffy’s Championship team in a closed-doors match last Saturday was the ideal preparation for their trip to Saints this weekend.
Caixinha said: “I think Morton play in a similar way to St Johnstone, with more or less the same philosophy, so it was good to put in practice some of those things.”
But Saints ace MacLean hit back by insisting Caixinha should be more concerned with plugging his dressing room leaks than attempting to wind up his Premiership rivals.
The 35-year-old said: “I did have a little chuckle when I read his comments. It is more of Pedro’s mind games.
“There are similarities between St Johnstone and Morton as we both play in blue and white. I don’t know where he is coming from. “Maybe he is trying to wind us up. He’s doing a good job of it... We are all petrified!
“He should worry about stopping leaks coming out his dressing room. He is trying to wind us up but we are a bit long in the tooth.
“We will take care of our own business and he can keep doing what he wants. It is good banter and we do enjoy it. It does add a bit of spice to Friday night’s game.”
MacLean reckons Caixinha won’t be the first or last to have a dig at Wright’s side who have had to put up with plenty of detractors over the years.
But the veteran striker admits it only fires the Saints players up to keep proving their doubters wrong, with three top-four finishes in the last three years. MacLean said: “St Johnstone have been called everything. We were even labelled rugby players before but we just take it with a pinch of salt.
“People try to come up with new things every year for us. It is a good thing in life when somebody puts you down. It makes you come out the other end fighting.
“It gives you a strong mentality when people say you are not good enough. We use it in the dressing room to spur ourselves on to finish as high up the league as possible.
“We can fight when it gets dirty and we can play football as well. We have not finished in the top four for the past three seasons by just lumping it long. It has still been a good start to the season for us as we are sitting joint third.”
St Johnstone have a poor record in this fixture, having managed just one league victory over the Light Blues in 17 years.
But forward MacLean reckons there is no better time to rectify that than at McDiarmid Park on Friday night as Saints look to exploit Rangers’ defensive frailties.
He said: “Rangers will have a good bit of possession on Friday so it is important we don’t concede. They are a quality side with good players.
“However, the way Rangers play both of their full backs so high they do leave spaces.
“The centre halves can get the blame for conceding but the full-backs don’t help by bombing forward. They need to defend better as a team.
“There are goals to be had against them. I scored against them last year so hopefully there’s more to come. We have had to wait two weeks for this match so we will be ready.”