Saints chase another Euro dream
Luke Bibby won the Elite Youths at the weekend St Johnstone’s destiny is now in their own hands.
That’s the message from manager Tommy Wright after the Perth club moved above Hearts in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday.
European football could well be on the cards for the team who cement fourth place this season with only Hibernian winning the Scottish Cup scuppering that possibility.
Wright is now urging his players to continue the success story and said: “Fourth place is up for grabs now. Two or three months ago Hearts were sitting second in the league with Aberdeen and Rangers behind them. “So for us to overturn that deficit and get two points ahead at this stage is good but nothing is decided yet. “Hearts would still be viewed as being favourites for fourth given the resources they have and the quality they brought in during the window to give them strength in depth. “But we have put ourselves in a position where we are in control of our own destiny now.
“That is a tremendous achievement by my players. Once again they won a game when it really mattered.
“All clubs like ourselves and Hearts, even Partick Thistle, can do is try to secure that fourth place and see what happens in the cup.”
With top six football now all but officially secured, Wright believes Saints can complete the remainder of the season with a sense of freedom.
Memories of playing in Europe still linger and Saints want more.
“We will have a clearer picture
after the semi-finals,” Wright said. “If Hibs are in the final we will have to wait until May 27. That will be a disaster in terms of planning for next season for whichever club finishes fourth.
“If it is Aberdeen against either Celtic or Rangers, it would be a clear path into Europe for the fourth team. Obviously that would help them prepare rather than face a last-minute rush.
“All we have done is put ourselves in a good position. But historically we have finished seasons strongly and fourth is definitely up for grabs.
“In a way the pressure is off us because our target was getting into the top six again. We can play with a freedom knowing that fifth or even sixth is still a great achievement by these players. But we are hungry.
“We have been in Europe before and the carrot is being dangled in front of us again. But there is a lot of hard work to do and some big games coming up.
“We have something to go for in the last nine games without any real pressure on us. It is exciting for the club and for the supporters.”
Goalkeeper Zander Clark was taken off injured during Saturday’s 2-1 win away at Motherwell. But Wright says it’s nothing overly serious.
“Zander went in to block an effort from Louis Moult and hurt his hip,”he explained.“I don’t expect it to be a major problem. I think it is similar to the knock he picked up against Dundee and he had a week to get fit.
“This time with the international break he has a couple of weeks.
“Steven Anderson and David Wotherspoon should be available for the Hamilton game.
“Keith Watson will see the specialist but we expect he will need a clean-up operation on the knee. The scan showed up a bit of loose bone.
“You never know until you go in but hopefully it is just a small tidy-up and he will be ready for pre-season.”
The performance at Fir Park pleased Wright and he believes Saints deserved to return home with three points.
He said:“I was a bit surprised to read suggestions we could have lost six or seven but people see games differently.
“We controlled large parts of the game. We were put under pressure but we are good at defending balls into our box, they didn’t create a lot of chances.
“We had good opportunities ourselves. We deserved to win because we did both sides of the game well. We had more shots and more corners.
“And my keepers only had three saves to make in the game.
“So the pressure didn’t equate to chances because we were strong and resolute in our defence. Our back four and midfield like a battle.”