Stopping Crawford key to bouncing straight back from cup heartbreak, says Easton

VICE-CAPTAIN Brian Easton expects St Johnstone to bounce back from Thursday’s last-gasp Betfred League Cup defeat by Aberdeen, but knows Ali Crawford will have to be reined in when the teams clash at New Douglas Park today.

The former Accies defender said: “Ali was just a young boy when I was at Hamilton, but I keep an eye on my old club and it’s always great to see youngsters coming through the ranks. I’m sure clubs are keeping tabs on him.

“Ali’s a dangerous player who picks out very good positions, and has good feet and vision. He is more than capable of scoring a few goals as well. Ali is a massive player for them. If we can manage to nullify him that’ll be a big plus for us.”

Easton, 28, says Tommy Wright’s players will have their minds back on league business after their agonising 1-0 cup exit at Pittodrie. Perth fans are already anticipating another top-six finish this season after their team’s victories and clean sheets against Partick Thistle and Hearts.But while admitting that’s the target, Easton is eager to manage expectation levels.

“Teams are already talking about Celtic winning the league comfortably,” he said. “But we see ourselves being in the pack behind them and I don’t think there is a team in this league who like playing against us, either home or away.

“Our success in recent seasons has been based on hard work and being together as a team. We can play nice football on the back of that.

“We put in a good performance to win away at Partick and then, against Hearts, the gaffer told the new boys in the changing room that it’s sometimes the St Johnstone way to pick up points like that. It’s all about digging in and never knowing when you’re beaten.”

Easton added: “As a former player I know Hamilton will be disappointed with the derby loss to Motherwell last weekend. They are definitely dangerous going forward, but we’ve done reasonably well on our visits to New Douglas Park.”

Despite the Betfred Cup setback, Easton maintains the start to the campaign has been positive. He said: “Last season our start wasn’t particularly bad but we only got two draws and two defeats. Yet we finished the campaign very strongly.

“So there is a lot of hope for this season. We won’t look too far ahead, but I think it’s the strongest squad in the time I’ve been here.”