Wright insists no pressure on Saints

Perth boss comfortable with four-point lead over Hearts

St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright believes “all the pressure is on Hearts” in the race for Europe.

The Perth side hold a four-point lead over Ian Cathro’s men going into the post-split Premiership fixtures.

They may be favourites to finish fourth but Saints are now in the situation whereby everything is a bonus. And that isn’t the case for the Tynecastle club, according to Wright.

“There’s absolutely no pressure on us,” he said. “We’ve reached all our targets and beyond. We’ve got more points after 33 games than before and it’s great to be in the top six again.

“To finish the season on a high would be to get fourth place and Europe. I think Liam Smith of Hearts came out and said the bare minimum for them is European football. It’s a big thing for them. It would be a big thing for us to achieve but we’re not under pressure to do it.

“Really, all the pressure is still on Hearts. A while back they were maybe thinking they could get second. Even third is out of their reach. The best they can hope for is fourth.

“Any pressure that is about is solely on them.”

Overcoming a four-point deficit is a big task for Hearts given the teams they will be playing against in the next few weeks.

“Historically these are difficult games to win,” said Wright.

“You are playing the best teams in the league – the teams who have performed best over the season.

“Draws don’t kill you. Every point is a prisoner at this stage of the season.

“We’ve got the hardest start that you could get – the first and second best teams in the country away from home (Aberdeen then Celtic).

“We’ve got to try and get something from them, and then hope that puts us in a position where we only need one win out of our last three.”