Don’t make me shout at you like a maniac
CRAIG LEVEIN says St Johnstone dare not drop off the standards set at Pittodrie as they seek to stretch 14 points clear of bottom place.
Saints host Livingston four days after beating Aberdeen 2-0 with their best performance of the campaign.
That was the response a raging Levein was looking for following a flop at St Mirren led to showdown talks with his squad.
The Perth boss has warned the high bar of that midweek success must be matched again. And he won’t tolerate another dip in effort like the one he panned them for in Paisley.
Levein said: “We can talk all about formations and individual players. But the thing that got us the result at Aberdeen was the collective.
“That required everyone to roll up their sleeves to go out there and fight. That’s what we did.
“We did some of the video stuff and it was evident that
by FRaSeR MacKie a lot of what happened against Aberdeen was a direct result of our aggression, our willingness to run harder and our fight.
“We cannot regress now and go back to a situation where I am shouting like a maniac.
“Up until the St Mirren, there was no evidence of us not working hard enough. They’ve answered that question and, for me, the next stage is Livingston and we can put it to bed.”
Levein admits he’d love to retain the same starting side that saw off Dons.
But he has a dilemma over fielding striker Clark for the third time in a week after being so careful in his comeback from a calf problem.
Saints haven’t won back-toback games all season and only picked up two draws against David Martindale’s strugglers.
Levein cautioned: “Teams are fighting for their lives. You’re not getting an easy ride
at any point. Davie has had unprecedented success keeping a club with the budget size Livingston have got in the Premiership for the last four years.
“He deserves a great deal of credit for that. His teams are always ultra-competitive. Logically, we’re going to face the same again.”
Sven Sprangler reckons adding his bite to midfield played a big part in halting a four-match losing run.
He said: “Wednesday was a very important win. It was also special for me because I played the full 90 minutes and contributed to it. I was very happy.
“When I’m not playing, of course I’m disappointed. But it’s important that I show in training what I can do.
“I always want to prove I should be starting and, hopefully, what I did against Aberdeen was enough for that.
“This is a big game. We have to win the duels against them and, if we do that, I’m confident we will win.”
Teams are fighting for their lives. You’re not getting an easy ride
CRAIG LEVEIN ON TASK AGAINST LIVINGSTON