The last thing Saints want is a break

International game is not best timing, says MacKenzie

Gary MacKenzie wishes St Mirren had a game this weekend to get their abject performance at Motherwell “out of the system”.

The centre-back had to watch from the bench as his team went down 2-0 at Fir Park.

The 33-year-old admits it was hard viewing for the players and fans alike as the Buddies failed to make a telling impact on the pitch.

“When you’ve come off a poor performance the last thing you want is a break,” he said.

“You want to play a game again as soon as possible to get it out of the system.

“The break is there and we knew it was coming, which makes it even more disappointing.

“We had our meeting to analyse the Motherwell game, look at what we did and didn’t do and where improvements have to be made.

“The gaffer said his piece about Saturday, that it wasn’t good enough or near the standards we’ve set in other matches.”

MacKenzie is having to wait to make his return to action after taking time to recover from a head knock sustained on the trip to Ross County.

The former Dundee and MK Dons man won’t be banging on the gaffer’s door to insist he gets back in the starting XI.

He said: “I’m ready to come back. I trained all last week, so I’m back fighting now.

“The boys had played well against Hearts, so I wasn’t expecting the manager to change it and I’m not one to moan. I’ll just wait my turn.

“There’s nothing that can be done about the knock. I’ve had a few throughout my career and they say that you can become more susceptible to it.

“There wasn’t even that much in it, it wasn’t a clash of heads or anything.

“He’s just caught me, dazed me a wee bit.

“The rules and regulations are there to protect us as players.

“You don’t always know what you’re dealing with, but I’ve been back training now, so I’m ready to go and I’m feeling good again.

“If the gaffer wants to put me back in against St Johnstone, I’ll be ready.”

St Mirren’s clash with St Johnstone after the international break has the feel of a significant moment, with both teams currently propping up the Premiership table.

MacKenzie hopes that a win at the Simple Digital Arena can kickstart the Buddies’ season.

He said: “Apart from the Motherwell game I think defensively, as a team, we’ve looked really organised and tough to break.

“If you look at the games we have played, very few teams have been able to break us down.

“It’s a big game but we’re only eight games into the season.

“We’d like to have picked up more points than what we have and what I think some of our performances deserve.

“But we are where we are and it’s a game that we’ll be looking to win and almost kickstart us again.

“We’ve got to go into every game thinking we can win it.”