YOUNG GUNS ARE GROWING Keeper believes first clean sheet will give them huge lift
He watched them defend admirably to record a first clean sheet of the season.
And St Johnstone goalkeeper Zander Clark thinks the shutout against Hearts will give the young defence confidence to flourish.
Saints have been operating with a back four which includes 20-year-olds Wallace Duffy and Anthony Ralston, a 22-year-old captain in Jason Kerr and 25-yearold Scott Tanser. Clark was thrilled to get the clean sheet monkey off his back and now wants it to be the catalyst for more, starting with Hibernian tomorrow.
“The squad is a young one and it’s taken the boys a bit of time to gel and get used to how each other plays,” Clark explained.
“But even the games that we had lost or drawn, we knew we weren’t far away and had deserved more.
“As the games have gone on the boys, and more so the young players, have started to come into their own.
“You always want to go into each game and keep a clean sheet. You can’t lose a game if you’re doing that.
“The most frustrating thing for us was giving away too many cheap goals and that was putting us on the back foot in games. And that was putting a lot on the strikers, knowing they had to score to get us back in the game and two to win it.
“We knew we needed to start being more solid at the back.
“In the Hearts game, up against the big boy Ikpeazu, I thought the defence was excellent. As a group they nullified Hearts to very little.
“The more games they play as a unit, the more understanding they get on the park. Over the last few weeks it has started to look more solid. Coming off the back of the clean sheet, it’s great for them and for me. “You get that wee extra buzz and hopefully we can take it into Saturday.” Hibs head to McDiarmid Park without a manager after Paul Heckingbottom was sacked earlier this week. The capital city club sit third-from-bottom and one point below Saints in the league, a position which has resulted in a period of unrest in the stands at Easter Road. Tommy Wright’s side are chasing a third straight win and, for Clark, he wants Hibs fans to be leaving the Perth stadium in a downbeat mood once again. “There were people on our backs so I know exactly how Hibs feel,” Clark told the Perthshire Advertiser. “But we just need to make sure we keep up our run and make sure their supporters are still on the back of their team at the end of the game.
“We know Hibs are a good side having already faced them this season. That was a game we probably should have won but in the end we needed to score late on to get the equaliser.
“Like I always say, it’s all about what we do. We need to make sure we’re right at it and have the same attitude as the previous two games.”
There was never any sense of panic when Saints were sitting bottom of the table after 10 games, Clark insisted.
Wins against Hamilton and then Hearts now have Perth players believing they are in the chase for a place in the top six.
As the old cliche goes, it is one game at a time for Clark.
He said: “The spirits have never been down in the changing room. Everyone was highlighting we were down the bottom of the table.
“But we knew we had the quality in the dressing room. We train with each other every day and knew everything would click.”
Saints’ Premiership fixture with Celtic, originally meant to be played on December 8, will now go ahead on Wednesday, January 29. The match will kick-off at 7.45pm.
The change of date is due to Celtic playing in the final of the Betfred Cup.