The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Lacklustre Saints keep On sinking
Hard work is the only solution to St Johnstone’s Premiership plight, according to manager Callum Davidson.
And the Perth boss, who took responsibility for Saturday’s Fir Park failure, didn’t see nearly enough of it in the 2-0 defeat by Motherwell that keeps them at the bottom of the league.
“It’s a sore one to take,” said Davidson.
“If I simplify the game, Motherwell won first contact and reacted to the second ball. That’s what lost us the game which is the biggest disappointment for me.
“It wasn’t as if they beat us tactically, passed it around and got chances with good play. They basically fought, won the first ball and reacted to the second ball better. It’s really hard to take.”
Davidson got his message across in the dressing room straight after the Motherwell match before turning his thoughts to Saints’ clash with Ross County in midweek which provides an opportunity to move two places up the table.
He said: “As a group, we said: ‘How do we get out of it?’ It’s all about hard work and sticking together.
“We need to pull each other out of a hole and make sure everyone is pulling in the same direction.
“We can’t have seven or eight players doing it and nobody else following them. I said it in the dressing room. There is not a simple answer.
“I’ve been there as a player and an assistant manager. It’s all about hard work and sticking together.”
Davidson, who will be without isolating strikers Chris Kane and Eetu Vertainen, added: “This (Motherwell) was a huge game.
“They are all huge.
“It is my responsibility to get their confidence back up and get them playing with the enthusiasm and energy that they had at the start of the season, especially in Europe, and last season.
“Confidence is low but you get out of it with hard work. Results have been disappointing and it’s important I take responsibility for that.
“Team selections have been hindered a few times but I have to take the players back to their levels.”
Davidson made four changes following the midweek defeat at Ibrox, with Eetu Vertainen out of the squad altogether after being blamed for the opening goal.
But the visitors looked short of confidence as they suffered a sixth consecutive defeat and went a fourth game without finding the net.
Sondre Solholm Johansen made a surprise return in central defence for Motherwell while Liam Donnelly made his first start since mid-august as the Northern Ireland international and Dean Cornelius came into midfield. The opener came after the visiting defence could only half-clear a cross from Sean Goss and Cornelius finished in style.
The visitors’ best firsthalf moments came when Viv Solomon-otabor sent a cross just in front of Stevie May, and Liam Craig powered a long-range effort not far wide.
Motherwell came close again when Tony Watt drove a cross off Goss and just past the post.
Kevin Van Veen made the second goal out of a hopeful ball down the left channel from Johansen. The Dutchman twisted and turned and managed to get his shot past Jamie Mccart and through Zander Clark’s legs.
Davidson brought on midfielder Jacob Butterfield for defender James Brown and switched to a back four two minutes after the goal, but the Perth side’s comeback attempts never really got going.
The only time they threatened was in the 69th minute when Liam Kelly tipped over Callum Booth’s shot after the left-back ran on to May’s cutback.
Motherwell brought on an extra defender, Jake Carroll, for Watt in the 82nd minute and further stifled the contest.
Cornelius may have grabbed the headlines for Motherwell but there was another significant introduction to the midfield as Donnelly made his first start after a long time out with a knee injury.
Well manager Graham Alexander said: “He’s had a difficult time.
“He came into the team at the start of the season with no pre-season really, and it sort of set him back, and he has picked up a few niggles here and there.
“He has been out for a while but the way he has trained in the last few weeks has been where we expect it to be.
“And we know he is a good player.
“We play and train with a certain intensity and he has shown he can do that.
“We have no qualms with playing him anywhere in midfield because we know what a good player he is.”