Tommy: Big mouths give perfect pep talk

Tommy Wright loves nothing more than a gauntlet being thrown down in front of him.

Because he knows his under-rated, under- appreciated, under-valued St Johnstone team will pick it right up and beat the opposition over the head with it every time.

The Saints boss goes into today’s final game with Rangers knowing they’re already in Europe, already past their best Premiership points haul in the modern era and their record number of wins in a season.

But that hasn’t stopped him setting another milestone to reach – and wanting to protect an incredible post-split record in the past five years that has seen them lose only four of 24 against the best in the league when it matters most. And the fact there are still players and managers daft enough to goad Saints only adds fuel to their fire.

Wright said: “I want to beat 60 points, the player want to do it, there’s that desire. We don’t like getting beat.

“We’ve now won three out of four games after the split. Again. There’s only Celtic beating us. We like the challenge and will love playing in a full ground against Rangers.

“The lads have that mentality every day in training. The tempo they play at, the energy they show, it’s hard for them to switch off from that.

“The Hearts game was important and we’re helped by other teams. Bjorn Johnsen comes out and says he doesn’t like playing against us – well, frigging brilliant, good!

“That just makes us go, ‘Right, we’ll make sure you don’t like playing against us’. Or when they say, ‘ We’re putting down a marker for next season’ – well go ahead, put down a marker. But you didn’t. Because we beat you again.

“There are always wee things we use in the dressing room and the boys love it.”

Gers boss Pedro Caixinha is fresh off a spat with Aberdeen’s Derek McInnes and Wright is relishing his first meeting with the Portuguese.

He said: “I’ll be looking forward to locking horns with him – though that may be the wrong term as he’s a bullfighter!”