The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Derby fortune long overdue for Saints
ST JOHNSTONE: Wright hopes for rub of the green at Dens Park
St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright believes his team are due some Tayside derby good fortune.
The Perth side have lost twice to Dundee this season and are hoping to make it third time lucky at Dens Park tomorrow.
“Results against Dundee have not been great in the last year,” Wright said. “But we haven’t had the rub of the green against them.
“The game at Dens, we had a perfectly good goal chalked off to make it 2-2 and they then get the penalty. The second half performance against them in Perth with 10 men was excellent.
“It was full of energy, commitment and quality. They are all of the things we need to do to get a result on Saturday.”
St Johnstone need all the experience they can get at the moment, with several senior pros counted out through injury.
So Tommy Wright is taking no risks with the fitness of Steven Anderson.
The centre-back was left out of the squad for Wednesday night’s trip to Kilmarnock but is expected to return at Dens Park tomorrow.
“Ando will be fine for Saturday,” Wright reported.
“He has had a wee problem with his achilles and we just need to be careful with it.
“Sometimes it flares up when we train on the astroturf. But it actually flared up before that at the Rangers game.
“With the number of injuries we have, the one thing I don’t want is Ando breaking down and being out for the rest of the season.
“It was precautionary to leave him out against Kilmarnock but we will manage him. If it was the last game of the season on Wednesday and we needed him to play then he would have.
“But there are 10 games to go. I can’t lose another experienced defender. I’ve already lost Brian Easton for quite a bit of the season and also Richard Foster.”
Jason Kerr will be available after Saints appealed his red card at Rugby Park.
Wright, who also welcomes back Steven MacLean and Keith Watson, added: “Without a doubt this is the worst period for us injury-wise.
“It’s been a bit unfair on some of the younger players coming into the team when we have struggled for confidence. And also when a lot of the experienced players, who have been good over a period of time, aren’t there.
“On Wednesday we had eight not available and you could argue that six would be starters.
“That is not hiding from the fact that we should still do better. At a small club it is difficult when you have that many out.”
Meanwhile, Wright has admitted that Kilmarnock winger Jordan Jones’s behaviour on Wednesday didn’t sit well.
“I was angry with his reactions to a couple of incidents,” he said.
“After the penalty Jones did the diving motion which I think he has to be careful about. He also did it after Chris Millar touched him in a foul.
“I just think that fuels the situation a little bit and probably draws attention to it from his point of view.
“That’s not really my concern but he mimicked the diving thing and that infuriated me. When you get a penalty, whether or not it is meant as a joke it can be taken the other way.”