Easton is eager for Saints to be the ones who end epic run
BRIAN EASTON has rather enjoyed checking results to note that the Celtic unbeaten run keeps rolling. That is because yet another victory for the champions means that no rival club has gained ground on St Johnstone with a shock three points to shake up where the mere mortals of the Ladbrokes Premiership are gathered.
Now, faced with a home tie against the runaway leaders, the Saints defender’s interest in the streak is piqued only by the idea of going down in history as the team to bring the record to a halt at 28 domestic games.
‘Everyone definitely wants to be the team that stops Celtic going through the season unbeaten,’ said Easton. ‘I think there’s something there about really wanting to be the party poopers. Any other game, we want Celtic to win — just to take points off everyone else. Hopefully, we will be the team to do the job on Sunday.
‘We lost to them last week 1-0 at Parkhead and can take a bit of confidence from the way we played. This time it’s at our pitch and we’re on a good run of form, so we will be looking to get a result.
‘Celtic will know they are going to be in for a tough game, coming to McDiarmid Park. I’m sure they will be honest enough to say that because many of the games between us and Celtic over the past couple of seasons have been pretty tight.’
A 2-1 verdict for Saints over the champions at Perth following the league split last season was one such contest, lifting Tommy Wright’s team to a comfortable fourth-place finish. Yet they could not catch a break in a miserable mid-winter last term.
From defeating Ross County on December 5, they failed to record another victory until February 20. This season, they have returned from a newly installed winter shutdown to knock Stenhousemuir out of the Scottish Cup and record back-to-back clean sheets in league wins over Hamilton and Partick. The defeat to a Dedryck Boyata goal at Celtic is the solitary setback in 2017.
Easton said: ‘We hit a really poor run of form last year over this time and we don’t know why. We did have a few injuries in key areas and that might have been a factor. We put so much into the first part of the season that we could have been burnt out a bit.
‘It’s hard to pinpoint. But we were looking forward to this break this time. It’s a great idea and it’s worked well for us. All the boys rested up. After the last few seasons, we knew a winter break was going to make a difference. We’ve come off that break on a good run.
‘Beating Partick in midweek was a massive three points for us. Looking at them trying to get into the top six, a win put us 11 points clear of them. That’s huge. It keeps us going on a decent run of form.’
Retaining Richard Foster and David Wotherspoon on new contracts has increased the feelgood factor of the New Year and Easton is not expected to be too far behind in agreeing a new deal.
‘The continuity at this club has been the main part of St Johnstone’s success over the last few years,’ said Easton, signed by Wright in 2013. ‘We’ve managed to hold on to key players instead of, like most teams, having to always sign new ones.
‘We’ve kept hold of those boys who have done well and we’ve added to strengthen that core of the squad and give competition. Now with Fozzie and David signing new deals, that’s great news for the club and fans.
‘I think I am closer. Basically, it’s my agent and the chairman talking away. The manager is keen on getting it done and so am I.
‘I’m really happy here and I’m sure it will get sorted sooner rather than later. I’ve said before it’s probably the happiest I’ve been playing my football. It helps when we are doing so well.
‘Ask anyone in the changing room, even the coaches or staff. It’s just a great environment to come and work and I hope that can continue as long as possible. And right now this is the strongest squad we’ve had.
‘In the four games since the break, the manager has made a lot of changes in each game and it doesn’t seem to have weakened the team at any point. I look at the bench against Thistle and any player could have started.’