Saints determined to put things right after dismal home display

Wright cancels day off for St Johnstone players in wake of disappointing defeat by Kilmarnock

ST JOHNSTONE 0 KILMARNOCK 2 The St Johnstone players were left in no doubt what their manager thought of the result and performance against Kilmarnock when he cancelled their day off yesterday.

However, Brian Easton said no one in the squad was going to argue with Tommy Wright’s decision as they all knew just how much they had let down their gaffer and the club.

Saints were a pale shadow of their normal selves on Saturday at McDiarmid and were second best all over the pitch.

They fell behind to a great early goal by Rory McKenzie and simply never recovered.

It was no surprise when Killie put the game to bed in the second half thanks to a Conor Sammon counter.

It was unbelievably grim viewing from a Saints perspective, and Easton is determined to put things right sooner rather than later.

The 28-year-old, who signed a twoyear contract extension on Friday, said: “I can’t really blame the manager for saying he wasn’t too happy with that.

“I am not really sure what it was down to.

“I don’t know what’s happening with our home form just now.

“The first goal was a great strike by Rory McKenzie but it came from slack play by us.”

He added: “Even the second goal was preventable.

“The way we started the game was so poor. I think we put ourselves under pressure by maybe taking too many touches in our own half and losing the ball in key areas.

“Fair play to Kilmarnock, they pressed us and when they got their goal they sat in and defended well.

“But I just think we didn’t show enough really.

“The manager let us know at half-time what he thought about it,” he said.

“I don’t think anyone in there is arguing with it – I just think we are all disappointed.

“The gaffer didn’t say too much after the game as he has us in on Sunday and we will go over it then.

“When he left, there was just silence in the changing room. “We were all gutted. “When you look at the table, we are still in a good position but it is not the way we pride ourselves on playing.

“We will be sore about it tonight but the great thing about this place is that tomorrow we will get in, dust ourselves down and get the spirits up again.

“Hopefully we can look at what went wrong and fix it, then batter on with the game against Rangers on Wednesday.

“We will look to get a result at Ibrox,” he added.

The home side were stunned when Kilmarnock took the lead in just the 11th minute.

Home keeper Zander Clark was put under pressure from a short back pass from Steven Anderson and kicked a clearance straight to McKenzie.

The Killie player did not hesitate before hitting a stunning looping effort from more than 40 yards back over the goalie and into the net.

Saints were struggling to get into the game and they could have fallen further behind in the 27th minute when Sean Longstaff had two great chances in quick succession.

His first was a smart shot from 12 yards that Clark did really well to keep out low to his left.

The ball was played back in towards Longstaff, but he directed his header straight at the keeper when he should have done much better.

The home side’s dismal first half was possibly best summed up when David Wotherspoon sent a corner in from the left that flew all the way to the opposite touchline and out for a throw.

Kilmarnock made it two in the 71st minute.

Greg Taylor swung a deep cross in from the left towards Sammon lurking at the St Johnstone back post, with the striker producing a downward header that squirmed through Clark’s hands and into the net.

Wright has been linked with the vacant manager’s post at Ibrox, but when Easton was asked if the speculation affected the players he said: “No, not too much.

“There have been times when jobs have opened up and the gaffer’s name has been put forward.

“The boys talk about it but we have more of a laugh about it and a few jokes,” he said.

“Like me, all the boys hope he will be here for a while yet.

“No doubt one day somebody will come, offer him a good job and he might be ready to move on as he has done really well here.

“But, as I said, hopefully he sticks around for a while longer and we can pick up results starting on Wednesday night.”

I don’t know what’s happening with our home form just now.

Pictures: SNS. Clockwise, from above: Saints keeper Zander Clark shows his anguish at full time; Chris Kane battles for the ball against Kilmarnock’s Scott Boyd; and Tommy Wright, who was less than impressed with his side’s performance.