Stylish Saints ‘up there on merit’, says Wright

ST JOHNSTONE: McDiarmid Park boss reckons his side’s impressive run deserves more recognition

Tommy Wright was thrilled to see his St Johnstone side turn on the style in a 4-0 weekend win over Hamilton Accies.

Records tumbled as goalkeeper Zander Cark stretched his shutout sequence to five games and the Perth boss matched the five-game winning runs achieved by Willie Ormond and Steve Lomas.

While Saints have hoisted themselves into fifth spot in the Premiership since a 6-0 loss to Celtic, the Northern Irishman claims his men are still operating under the radar.

“The weekend performance was a superb way to finish off the latest series of matches,” said Wright. “It has gone unnoticed but we are actually only three points off the summit of the league.

“Aberdeen beat Hibs on Friday night and there was talk of them being only five off the top spot. There has been no mention of that with us because people don’t expect us to be there.

“But we are up there on merit. We deserve to be there. We have beaten teams that we weren’t expected to do well against, away to Hibs and Livingston.

“Brendan Rodgers was happy for Celtic to take a point at Livingston on Saturday and Rangers lost there recently.

“We are the only team that has gone there and won this season.

“We have shown the perfect response to the defeat from Celtic, with five wins and clean sheets in all of them,” added Wright.

“We know there is still room for improvement but no one should devalue the run we are on. We have been very good since the Celtic defeat. That’s why we have got the results.

“As a manager I am pleased with what we are doing but we want to get better and better.”

Wright revealed winger Danny Swanson could be available to face Kilmarnock after the international break.

“We’ve had good news on Danny,” he said.

“He had a scan on the knee he injured in training last week and it’s nothing serious. There’s a chance he could be fit for the next game.”

Striker Tony Watt was forced out of the Accies game after an hour with a hip injury.

“Tony was a big concern after taking a bang on his hip but he should also be fine for the Kilmarnock game,” said Wright.

Midfielder Blair Alston returned to action in a strong under-20s side which faced Hamilton yesterday in Kelty.

“The break will benefit Steven Anderson. He will increase his workload this week,” said Wright.

“Brian Easton goes for a follow-up injection as planned.

“It’s all part of the management plan based on what the latest consultant wanted him to do.

“Keeper Connor Mitchell has a bit of a hip problem but I also expect him to be back for Kilmarnock.

“We will have a couple of days off later this week before going again for another run of tough games.”

Tommy Wright watches from the sidelines as St Johnstone make it five wins in a row against Hamilton.