Davidson says Saints owe the fans after stalled start
Poor group effort has manager demanding reaction at Elgin City
CALLUM DAVIDSON says he and his St Johnstone team owe Perth supporters a performance following a stuttering start to the season.
Saints have drawn twice against Annan Athletic and Queen of the South in the Premier Sports Cup before losing out on bonus points via the way of penalty shootouts.
The McDiarmid Park outfit are now up against it to qualify out of Group F and St Johnstone supporters vented their frustrations from the stands in Dumfries on Saturday.
Davidson shares their annoyance and with fans turning out in their numbers through a relegation battle last term, the Perth boss admits performances now need to turn.
“I want more urgency and positivity. Sometimes you will make mistakes on the ball,” he explained. “But I want them to show urgency to win games of football. I want to be positive in how we play.
“Defensively we can be better in dealing with first contact and then reacting.
I’m looking for a reaction and a performance. We weren’t happy with the performance at Queen of the South.
“Ultimately we didn’t get beat but it was a really poor performance. I was really disappointed because we let the fans down. They came down in their numbers, which was really appreciated.
“We really want to put on a performance for them. They stuck by us last season. We now just need to win these next two games and make sure everyone is right for the start of the season.”
Saints head to Elgin tonight knowing they must win comfortably to keep their slim hopes of League Cup football alive.
Davidson is expecting a tough trip up north, but he has urged his players to show him what they are capable of to help build confidence ahead
of the league season getting underway next week.
He continued: “Elgin will know we are under a bit of pressure. We can’t give them the opportunity to get a foothold in the game.
“We gave Annan and Queen of the South something to hang onto. It’s really important we start well, take our chances and show our quality.
“We have injuries and suspensions still. Sometimes in football you don’t get second chances, but these boys will get a second chance to prove themselves.”
St Johnstone are still trying to bring in new faces this summer with a raft of players exiting the club following their Premiership survival success via the play-off against Inverness.
Key first-team stars Shaun Rooney, Jamie McCart,
Callum Hendry and Zander Clark have all left, and finding replacements is now the task at hand for Davidson.
New signings Jamie Murphy, Graham Carey and Andy Considine look handy additions, while Celtic loanee Adam Montgomery has also looked bright in his short spell so far.
“We’ve assessed where the team is. We know there are positions we need to strengthen,” Davidson said. “We’re looking to do that as soon as we can.
“We want to get the best goalkeeper in we can. We need to make sure it’s the right fit for the club.”
Injuries are also an issue for Davidson and Ali Crawford joined his long list of absentees as he limped off with a hamstring strain after just 10 minutes against Queens.
“It doesn’t look good for Ali,” Davidson explained. “He is an experienced player for us and I think he’ll miss the start of the season now.
“We have had a few longterm injuries and, when you put four or five on top of that, it is difficult.
“Hopefully Drey Wright will be involved on Tuesday night and then Liam Gordon is back on Saturday.”