Staggies huntrun likeKillie’s saysFox
Foster wants glory for Saints after reaching a personal milestone
RICHARD FOSTER admits he is celebrating a significant career milestone in unfamiliar Scottish football territory.
The St Johnstone full-back made his 500th top-team appearance after almost 15 years as a senior pro in the 0-0 draw against Hearts at McDiarmid Park.
But celebrations were shortlived as the draw saw the Perth Saints drop out of the top six, leapfrogged by Kilmarnock after their 2-1 win against Rangers.
All is not lost as Saints still have a game in hand and after 19 matches are still just three points off the tally they had set at a similar stage last time around.
Foster, 32, is in no mood to slow down after admitting the league this season is as competitive as he has known it since he made his debut for Aberdeen against Partick Thistle in March 2003.
The ex-Scotland defender said: “We’ve stuttered and stammered this season, enjoying a great start before falling away a little bit.
“Every time we had a good result, like away to Hibs, in the next game we fell flat. It was important we didn’t lose against Hearts after our result against Rangers the previous week.
“The manager said we had 28 points at the winter break last year and this year we’ve 25. We’ve played a game less and the difference this season is also that teams in and around us have done better. It’s a tougher league.
“We’ve steadied the ship, certainly, but it’s even strange for us to look at the league and see we’re not in the top six.
“But Kilmarnock are improved this year and other teams around us such as Motherwell are also doing really well.
“The league’s a lot tighter. It’s actually quite a good competition and the games can’t come quick enough. We want to accumulate as many points as possible.
“At the start of the season everyone said Rangers, Celtic, Aberdeen, Hearts and Hibs would finish in the top six because they are the five biggest clubs in the country.
“But we’re hopeful sixth place can be ours. A recent table showed we are ninth or 10th in the country in terms of wages paid so for St Johnstone to have been in the top six for the last five or six seasons is incredible.
“I’ve only been here 18 months so it’s testament to the guys who have been here longer that when you look at the table and St Johnstone aren’t in the top six it looks strange to everyone and not just us.”
Foster has been a model of consistency for Saints and built on a reputation he first established at Aberdeen and maintained over two spells at Rangers, as well as stints at Ross County and Bristol City.
He added: “One of the stats guys at Aberdeen told me recently I’d played 276 games for the club and it intrigued me to think how many games in total I’d played.
“The 500-game mark has been a target and I reached it against Hearts and also played against them in my 400th appearance, a 2-2 draw with Rangers.
“I made my debut against Partick Thistle at Pittodrie and, football being the way it is, many of the guys I played with at Aberdeen fell away from the game.
“Luckily I have managed to keep myself relatively fit although you still never imagine when you start out you will play 500 games.
“I have always said I will keep going until my body says no or clubs stops offering me contracts, whichever comes first!
“My next goal is 600 games. That would be a challenge considering my age but you must set yourself these targets.” Foster will make it 501 tomorrow night when he returns to the Staggies as the Saints bid to find consistency – their three most recent wins have been sandwiched with losses or draws.
The rest of the country have spent the last few days tucking into turkey, selection boxes and fizzy wines but Foster isn’t envious.
He said: “It is hard but you learn not to over-indulge at Christmas where you tend to be the taxi driver for family and friends.
“We have a job to do but we have a winter break after Christmas. The gaffer has given us a few days off in January so that’s the time we can let our hair down.” SCOTT FOX reckons Ross County should take a leaf out of Kilmarnock’s book and not panic after falling to the foot of the Premiership.
Steve Clarke has hauled Killie off bottom and into the top six with only two defeats since being handed the Rugby Park reins in October.
Staggies shotstopper Fox admits Owen Coyle’s side are concerned about their topflight status after Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Hibs saw them slip below Partick Thistle.
But he believes Clarke’s men are now the benchmark for clubs such as County.
Fox, whose side entertain St Johnstone tomorrow, said: “Look at Kilmarnock – they are the prime example.
“We’ll look forward to St Johnstone and hopefully get a result. If we’d got something from the Hibs game, even if we were still bottom of the league, you’d be optimistic.
“We’re bottom on the back of a couple of poor results. We just need to get back to winning ways and hopefully that can kickstart our season.
“Of course we’re concerned where we are. People say how tight the league is but you don’t want to be bottom at any stage.
“The gaffer has told us where we are and it’s about time we buck up our ideas and get results. I don’t want to be bottom of the league full stop so the quicker we get off it the better.”
Fox admits failing to hold on to leads has been County’s Achilles heel with just one point from their last four games despite being the first to score in three of them.
He said: “I can’t put my finger on why we keep losing leads. We start well but maybe take our foot off the pedal when we go a goal up.
“We took the lead at Ibrox then Easter Road and came away with nothing. The gaffer was saying it’s just our mentality. As soon as we start getting results that’ll come.
“Hibs controlled the game in the second half. We were trying to hang on. They scored the second and took their foot off the gas. We tried to get the ball in the box but didn’t create any chances.
“Any footballer knows at Christmas you still need to watch what you eat and drink. We’ll be ready to go again.”