The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Saints striker will not argue with Hibs boss’s ‘cynical’ claim
SAINTS: MacLean says side can’t afford to ‘be soft or wander’
Steven MacLean conceded St Johnstone were guilty of being cynical, as charged by Hibs boss Neil Lennon.
However, the Saints striker stressed that, at times, the Perth men have paid for being too soft this season.
The “cynical” accusation was made by Lennon when referring to a challenge by Blair Alston on Hibees captain John McGinn during Friday’s 1-1 draw at McDiarmid Park. Lennon believed it, deserved more than a yellow card.
MacLean met that allegation with a shrug of the shoulders and defended Alston to a degree, arguing that he didn’t mean to hurt McGinn.
The veteran frontman called on his Saints team-mates not to lie back and “get our bellies tickled” in the closing weeks of the season.
Asked about Lennon’s comments, he said: “He is probably right. I think we probably were cynical at times.
“But I think we have been soft at times as well.
“I think sometimes you get away with them and sometimes you don’t.
“I think we were maybe a bit fortunate at times. I don’t know – it’s hard to say from your position. Sometimes you might get a red for one of them.
“It (Alston’s foul) didn’t look great to be fair, but I think he didn’t mean to properly do him. I think he was just trying to trip him up and got a yellow.
“You can say it’s a good foul so I think that’s what he was trying to do, to be honest.”
MacLean would like to see Saints toughen up for the remainder of the campaign, with the weekend results leaving them in eighth spot – eight points off the top six and nine clear of the playoff spot.
“I think our problem all season has been the consistency levels just haven’t been there.
“So it is important now that we try to go on a run between now and the end of the season,” he said.
“I don’t think we are out of the (relegation) mire yet – there is still a long way to go and a lot of points to play for.
“We must get away from the dropzone area.
“It is all down to hard work all week, doing the nasty and horrible things.
“That’s what we have done better of late and we need to continue to do that.
“If you do all that then hopefully the quality will come with it.
“We can’t be soft or wander but rather stay in the game if we do go behind.
“We will always get chances to come back so we must ensure we don’t roll over and get our bellies tickled, as we have done at times this season.
“I think we have maybe been thinking ‘oh, we’re a good side now’ when we’re not. We can be a good side but we have to do the dirty things well.
“You can take your eye off the ball but now it’s important that we kick on.”
Chris Kane struck late to rescue a point for Saints against a Hibs side that opened the scoring after two minutes through Efe Ambrose.
With 14 minutes gone the visitors were down to 10 men after goalkeeper Ofir Marciano handled outside his box.
Saints were frustrated by replacement Cammy Bell until he was finally beaten by Kane.
MacLean said: “I think, in the end, we probably had enough chances to get three points. But when you are 1-0 down with just a few minutes to go you tend to take a point.
“I am a wee bit disappointed but proud of the boys as well because we dug in and kept the ball moving.
“We spoke at half-time about how Hibs would stay well organised and hard to beat, so I thought we did well to wear them down and take our chance.”
Meanwhile, St Johnstone’s David Wotherspoon has been called up by Canada for the first time.
The 28-year-old joins new head coach John Herdman’s squad for Saturday’s friendly against New Zealand.
Born in Scotland, Wotherspoon qualifies for Canada through mother Sheila.
He is added to the squad for their training camp in Spain ahead of the clash against the Kiwis.