Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Davidson: Character of my squad was spot on after so many changes
ST Johnstone manager Callum Davidson has hailed the character of his side after Stevie May’s last-gasp winner secured a dramatic 2-1 win against Motherwell at Fir Park.
Saints have signed nine players this summer and new recruit Jamie Murphy gave them the lead with a sharp finish in the first half.
Another summer signing Graham Carey then inadvertently levelled the match in the 90th minute, with the St Johnstone winger deemed to have got the last touch into his own goal following a Sondre Solholm Johansen flick on as Motherwell equalised, before May’s smart finish deep into injury time provided the late twist.
Davidson said: “If you look at the starting XI, I’ve got three players that played last season, so it’s been a huge turnaround.
“We lost four of my better players from last season. I think I’ve got some good players in and I’ve got a good performance level from some. It’s a brandnew back five and I thought they performed really well today and last week (1-0 defeat by Hibernian) when we were unlucky not to get something out of the game.
“People say I need new strikers – I thought the two strikers were both involved in both goals.
“Really disappointed we conceded from a set piece again, that’s two in the 90th minute we’ve conceded, but the overriding emotion is we’ve got the three points, so great character from the players.
“Delighted with the three points in a hard place to come.”
Motherwell interim boss Steven Hammell hinted that his side may follow suit in going back into the transfer market, as he admitted the Steelmen’s squad needs “surgery”.
He said: “Very difficult, disappointing. We can be a lot better than that, but at the very worst we should be coming away with a point.”