POWER POINTS
St Mirren forget about forfeits and focus on remaining unbeaten
NOT everything in black and white in Paisley is taken as read by Jim Goodwin’s players. Sure, the record books currently show — pending an appeal — that St Mirren forfeited six points to Motherwell and Hamilton in October after breaching Covid guidelines.
But Jamie McGrath says the team have managed to ignore their punishment and focus only on performances on the pitch.
Since those two ‘defeats’ they have gone on a seven- game unbeaten run. It’s actually a nine-game run if you count the Betfred Cup games with Partick and Queen of the South before their coronavirus outbreak.
Saturday’s three points came against one of the clubs who benefitted from their misfortune but that is neither here nor there, according to Saturday’s matchwinner McGrath.
Now the Irishman hopes to take that singular vision into Wednesday’s visit from Rangers in the Betfred Cup quarter-finals.
‘With this virus, everyone’s having setbacks,’ said McGrath after his third goal in three games.
‘We didn’t read too much into it (the forfeited defeats). We just kept training away because we knew we were capable of going on a run. ‘ We’ll just focus on things we can control. We’re not looking to prove people wrong but we’ve had injuries and people being infected by Covid. We’re all together now and things are looking good.’ McGrath’s 13th minute winner was the product of some neat play from Saints. Although ultimately a shot into an empty net with Motherwell keeper Jordan Archer stranded from a previous save, it was still a high- quality finish from the 24-year-old midfielder.
Although Saints never looked like adding to their lead, every player did their bit in protecting it. They were balanced, never panicked and restricted Motherwell to half-chances.
Boss Goodwin admitted a change of philosophy lies at the heart of a sequence which has turned their season around.
‘The last game prior to our last lockdown, where we went to Pittodrie and got beaten 2-1 after being in front, that was the turning point for us and for me as a manager,’ he revealed.
‘My approach and the message I was giving to the players was maybe a bit negative at times. I was constantly trying to think how we could stop the opposition and maybe trying to be a bit too clever with tactics.
‘It’s only my second year in the Premiership and I’m still learning. The approach from us, no matter who we’re playing is: “Let’s get in their faces and be brave on the ball”. You’re starting to see that now.’
McGrath (left) agreed: ‘We’re starting to find our rhythm. But the cup tie i s going to be a completely different game. We know the qualities Rangers bring to the table but we’re bringing some as well. We’re going through a good patch, so we can go in full of confidence. This is probably a free crack for us.’
Motherwell need to find some inspiration, too. They’ve taken one point out of 12 in the league as well as crashing out of the Betfred Cup.
Stephen Robinson’s front three of Callum Lang, Tony Watt and Chris Long lacked width, while the introduction of Rangers loanee Jake Hastie helped somewhat, but he can’t play against his parent club at Ibrox this weekend under the terms of his deal.
‘I don’t know if it’s a confidence thing,’ sighed Scotland defender Stephen O’Donnell, ‘because there are plenty in there with enough to say for ourselves. We have bags of quality when we click but if we have any ambitions of staying in the top six we have to be better at both ends.’
MOTHERWELL (4-3-3): Archer 6; O’Donnell 6, Mugabi 5 (Polworth 67), Gallagher 6, Grimshaw 7; Campbell 5, O’Hara 6 (Lamie 78), Maguire 5; Long 5 (Hastie 56), Watt 6, Lang 5 (Cole 56). Subs not used: Chapman, McGinley, Crawford, Devine, Johnston.
Booked: Gallagher. ST MIRREN (4-2-3-1): Alnwick 7; Fraser 6, McCarthy 7, Shaughnessy 7, Tait 6 (Mason 73); Erhahon 8, Doyle-Hayes 8; Connolly 6 (MacPherson 73), McGrath 7, Durmus 6; Obika 6 (Erwin 60). Subs not used: Lyness, Flynn, McAllister, Foley, Morias, Dennis. Booked: Erhahon, Tait, Erwin, McGrath. Man of the match: Ethan Erhahon. Referee: Euan Anderson.