This is just the beginning ...
We’re not out of danger yet, warns Sutton
St Mirren striker John Sutton reckons the challenge has only just begun as Saints bid to beat the drop.
The talisman found the scoresheet on his 100th start for the Paisley club as they romped to a 4-1 victory over Renfrewshire rivals Morton on Tuesday night in a win that moves Jack Ross’ men up to eighth spot in the Championship.
Former Motherwell man Sutton, 33, has fired home a number of crucial goals this season as the side battle relegation but he insists that they can’t allow themselves to take their eye off of the ball having finally moved off bottom spot for the first time since September.
Sutton said: “The challenge is to keep ourselves out of the relegation spots. We have got quite a tough runin but our form is good. If we can keep it going, then everything is in our own hands.
“Every game is tough in this league, but I think if we can show the steel that we have defensively then we won’t be far away from staying in the league.
“We were a bit disappointed not to win the game on Saturday but that was us out of the bottom spot. We knew going into the game against Morton that a win would take us out of the bottom two spots and that was motivation enough.
“But it was a derby game. I wouldn’t say we have a score to settle with Morton as such but, from our point of view, we felt we had underperformed against them a couple of times this year and to win like that is really special.”
Saints face a difficult run, which sees them take on three of the league’s top sides all away from home. Trips to Falkirk and Dundee United are next up before a trip to Easter Road to face Hibernian on the last day of the season.
But Sutton revealed that it was a win at Ayr United’s Somerset Park that helped kick-start the campaign.
Defeat that day would have seen S Saints slip double digits behind their nearest rivals at the foot of the table, but a 2-0 in February has been the catalyst to a run of form that has e elevated the side up the league table.
Sutton added: “We have really k kicked on from there. But we have to be realistic. The other teams will look at us now as a target, and we have got a lot of away games coming up.
“There is no reason why we can’t do it, but we have got to keep the run going.”