Wright fired up for top six battle this season

Pain of missing out last year spurs on Perth boss for fight

St Johnstone will relish a top six battle over the next few weeks after not being involved in one 12 months ago, according to Tommy Wright.

Sixth-placed Saints currently have a two-point advantage over Motherwell and a three-point one over Hibs but, with Hearts only five points above them, they aren’t looking over their shoulder as the mid-season split starts to loom large.

“Last year at this stage of the season we probably weren’t in a realistic position to press for the top six,” said Perth boss Wright.

“Now the chance is there for us. “Hibs and Motherwell got two points closer over the weekend but they probably thought it would be three with us playing away to Rangers. We gained a point on Hearts so we can still look up.

“So it’s two from four, maybe even five, for those two remaining spots.

“There will be big games coming up when we play each other. They will have a huge bearing on how it all pans out.

“We all have tough run-ins.

“There are a lot of points still to play for.”

Meanwhile, Wright has been happy with the impact midfielder Sean Goss has made so far.

“Sean came into difficult games, where we maybe didn’t have as much of the ball as we would have liked,” he said. But I have been really pleased with him.

“He looked a bit tired against Celtic in the cup but three games in a week after not playing much competitive football was a big challenge.

“But Sean will get fitter and continue to improve. He will have more control of games. He likes to get on the ball.”

l Brian Easton continued his comeback with 45 minutes of reserve team action against Morton.