Boss Wright insists rammy at Accies will galvanise Saints
Saints manager Wright says the incident at Accies will be dealt with St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright believes Saturday’s bizarre incident at Hamilton can have a positive effect on his dressing room. Team-mates Danny Swanson and Richard Foster were sent off after the half-time whistle following an extraordinary onfield rammy - with each other. Saints, who went on to lose the game 1-0, moved quickly to suspend the pair pending a full and thorough internal investigation. The investigation has begun but the McDiarmid Park side will need to regroup ahead of a crucial Scottish Premiership home game with Hearts tomorrow evening.
That won’t be an issue for Perth players, Wright insists, and he said: “What happened on Saturday will galvanise us for the Hearts game. I think it will have a positive effect on my dressingroom, that’s what they’re like.
“The fans will be behind us and we’re ready to go. As a squad we’ve already moved on from it now and there’s absolutely no chance it will affect what we’re doing here.
“You saw it on Saturday with the performance we had with nine men in the second half. I know these players inside out and if anything it will galvanise us.
“So if people think we’re going to fold, capitulate and the seams are bursting then good luck to them. But I know that dressingroom, they’re a strong group and if anything it will make them stronger.”
Incredibly no video footage of the incident has surfaced from the Superseal Stadium but Wright says it won’t be swept under the carpet.
“We have started the investigation so I am limited in what I can say,” he told the Perthshire Advertiser. “We are aware there is no footage of what happened but that doesn’t hinder having a proper investigation.
“Once that is concluded a decision will be made and we’ll draw a line under it when that happens. It will be dealt with fairly.
“The club did the right thing dealing with it swiftly like we did and that has also given the players some breathing space.
“Suspending them while we
investigatewastherightdecisionandthe fairest thing all round.
“The club has a code of conduct and the players all get a staff handbook, so the initial interviews will be conducted by me then I’ll speak to the board.
“There is a proper process so we will have to let that take its course before a decision is made on what punishment we will hand out.
“We will get the referee’s report and go through that, so there are various things we have to see. Just because there is no video footage it doesn’t mean there’s nothing we can do, the players evidence will be very much part of that.
“It won’t be swept under the carpet, we don’t need video evidence to make a decision.
“Every source of information available to us will be used. This is the first time I have had to deal with this as a manager, it’s a new one.
“I know I said on Saturday about things being sorted out in dressingrooms but over the years I can’t remember too many incidents.
“It’s not something you want to be dealing with, we’ll just have to. It’s just another strand of being a manager.”
●Saints’next Premiership game is against Hearts tomorrow night at McDiarmid Park – kick-off at 7.45pm.