SAINTS SERVE UP WIN BUT WRIGHT WON’T STOP ASKING FOR REINFORCEMENTS
St Johnstone 2 McCann 7, Wotherspoon 83 Kilmarnock 1 Burke 22 (pen)
DAVID WOTHERSPOON consigned Kilmarnock to a seventh consecutive Premiership defeat with an 83rd-minute match-winner at McDiarmid Park.
But attention was as much on events off the pitch as those on it in the wake of Saints boss Tommy Wright inferring that he is being hampered in his quest to sign players by the club’s head of football operations, Kirsten Robertson.
Wright was unrepentant after seeing his side rise to eighth in the table, on the same points as Kilmarnock.
He said: ‘Most of you know me, I’ve always tried to look after my club and speak passionately about it.
‘I’ve said what I’ve said and I won’t be taking it back. With another two injuries today, nobody can tell me it’s not a good win, even though we haven’t signed a player.
‘My frustration is that we could be more proactive than reactive. We are waiting until the last seven days of the transfer window.
‘But listen, I’ve said enough. Maybe I’ve ruffled a few feathers, but hey-ho!’
Turning his attention to the match itself, Wright added: ‘We got what we deserved. I thought we were excellent the way we had control of the midfield and scored a brilliant second goal.’
There were sporadic moments of excitement but in general it was a largely uninspiring affair.
The exception to the rule was Kilmarnock’s veteran winger Chris Burke, who, even at 36, still possesses the flair and ball skills to make the unexpected happen.
It was Burke who engineered a penalty kick for Kilmarnock in the 22nd minute after St Johnstone had taken the lead in the seventh minute through Ali McCann.
The Saints youngster slid the ball past visiting goalkeeper Jan Koprivec from close range after Stevie May and Scott
Tanser had done the spade work to put the home side in the driving seat.
Burke then invited a rash challenge from Callum Booth and, while the
offence was subsequently shown to have taken place a foot or so outside the box, there was no doubting the defender’s intent.
Burke took the resultant kick himself and maximised his good fortune by sending home No1 Zander Clark the wrong way.
But Wright was unhappy with referee Alan Muir, insisting: ‘He will see it back and probably will ring me.
‘It was a poor decision and clearly outside the box. But the referee isn’t helped by the fact that Burke throws himself into the box.
‘After that, we lost our discipline for five minutes and gave away some stupid free-kicks. But we weathered that and fully deserved the result.’
After levelling from the spot, Burke then forced Clark into a save from a viciously-struck free-kick from 20 yards.
The keeper also had to look lively to stop a header from Dario Del Fabro.
But in truth, while St Johnstone enjoyed more possession, like Kilmarnock they lacked a cutting edge.
But after substitute Callum Hendry lit up the second half ever so briefly with a 30-yard free-kick that produced an equally impressive save from Koprivec, Wotherspoon struck.
He bagged the points for the Perth outfit with a right-foot shot from the centre of the box after latching on to a defensive header.
It was the fifth time that Alex Dyer has tasted defeat since succeeding Italian Angelo Alessio as manager.
But the Englishman isn’t about to press the panic button after offering a brutally frank assessment of his team’s performance.
He reflected: ‘Did we deserve something? I’m not 100-per-cent sure, to be honest. We are lacking confidence at the moment as well as quality, so it was probably a fair result.
‘We are not digging in like we did in the past and we are losing games. But we have to be prepared to fight and go again.
‘We have to work hard and give the players the right messages on the training ground. There’s no quick fix. If you keep losing games there is something fundamentally wrong — that is a rot.
‘We have to look down the way these days because we are closer to the bottom than the top six where we want to be. We need to change what we’re doing.
‘We have changed manager already and unless we are going to change it again then we have to dig in.
‘I have no concerns. I know what I have in the changing room and what I need to do and if we do our best then it will be okay.
‘There is no need to panic, the core is there. But when you lose games it’s hard because confidence goes.
‘Players look at each other, that’s human nature. It’s my job to get them together.
‘We have let down our supporters and now we need to put it right.’