Foster warns top four rivals that Saints are up for the battle –

Foster warns that Wright’s men are up for the battle

Richard Foster yesterday sounded the warning that steely St Johnstone are in no mood to relinquish their top four status in the face of Rangers’ top flight return.

The former Ibrox defender, facing his previous club Ross County on Saturday, was in defiant mood when contemplating ambitions for the season ahead.

Aberdeen, Hearts and Mark Warburton’s newly-promoted team were most people’s tips to scrap it out for European places this season, but Saints assured victory in the Highlands underlined their enduring credentials.

A Danny Swanson penalty was scant return for utter dominance of the first half but Chris Kane’s neat finish for the second made sure of a fine three points at a happy-hunting ground for Tommy Wright’s side.

Foster said: “When you come back to play your old teams it is always nice to get a win. I thought we played really well today and dominated the game.

“For a little 15-minute spell in the second half, I thought Ross County were better but, other than that, we defended really well and looked good on the counter-attack.

“I don’t think we looked like conceding. They didn’t have any real clear-cut chances, even in that period. Over the piece we definitely deserved to win.”

Drawn on his ambitions for the campaign, Foster expressed his faith in the quality and depth of the squad assembled at his new club.

He said: “With Rangers coming back up, everyone just assumes they’re going to be in the top four. But that place was St Johnstone’s last season and we want to keep it this season.

“It will be a tough battle – there are a lot of good teams. But we feel we have enough in the dressing room to certainly push for that top four.

“I don’t know if it would mean more because Rangers are back to finish fourth or third because it’s a great achievement in any season.

“That’s five years St Johnstone have been top six. There’s a third place in there and a couple of fourth-place finishes. They’re consistently top six so you can never say it is a better achievement.

“But the league is a different challenge this year. You’re going to go to Ibrox a couple of times.

“I know it is a great place to play. It’s a great place to play if you get on top of Rangers because the fans don’t like it.

“Otherwise, it’s a very tough place to go and play if the fans are behind them.

“So it does add a different dimension to the league but, as I say, we’re looking to finish as high as possible. The first aim would be top four and then take it from there.”

Foster sensed the winning mentality in the group as soon as he set foot in McDiarmid Park.

He said: “There is a lot of quality in the dressing room. We’re a well-organised team.

“At Ross County last year it was a great achievement for us just to finish in the top six. “But moving to St Johnstone, I feel it is a bit of a step up in terms of the consistency they’ve shown in the top six. In that respect, it was a great move for me.”

For whatever reason, Foster’s old side lacked zest and spark against a Saints team who dominated the first period and have now won four of their last five trips to the ground.

Jay McEveley, sent off last time out at home to Motherwell, was drafted in as Andrew Davies fell injured before kickoff and was again in the thick of the drama as Wright’s team made the breakthrough two minutes before halftime.

Kane nipped in in front of McEveley to the left of the box but seemed set to run the ball out before the otherwise sound Liverpudlian clumsily clipped his heels. Swanson stepped up to send Scott Fox the wrong was to secure a deserved lead.

County enjoyed a far better 15 minutes after the re-start, clearly psyched up and scolded by the management team, but quality in the final third eluded them before they were hit by a classic sucker-punch.

A fine breakaway move ended with substitute David Wotherspoon threading Kane into space in the box and the striker calmly weighted a low shot past the outcoming Fox.

… we feel we have enough in the dressing room to certainly push for that top four. RICHARD FOSTER

Richard Foster: feels move to Saints was step up.