Tommy had strong belief in his Saints

St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright sensed his players were not far away from producing a performance of Saturday’s standard.

The Perth men dismantled Motherwell 5-1 at Fir Park with departing striker Steven MacLean signing off with a memorable hat-trick.

Wright was thrilled for the forward but highlighted a number of positives from a result which has Saints well in contention for seventh place.

“There were huge positives in the performance. It was a performance that had been coming,”Wright said.

“The first goal, in particular, probably hasn’t been given the credit it deserves.

“It starts with our goalkeeper and 16 passes later it’s in the back of the net. The quality of the build-up play in three of the goals was excellent.

“Out of that performance, individually there were a lot of positives as well.

“Jason Kerr is getting better and better, the centre-backs were solid and the wing-backs got back and forward with energy.

Dundee at the weekend so they will be hungry to get themselves safe.

“There is a lot on the line and we obviously want to finish seventh. There is still a lot to play for.

“At the moment we are in the bottom six and are competing well.

“But we should expect to win the last couple of games.

“If we can do that then hopefully we will finish in seventh.”

While McMillan holds a determination to finish the season strongly, he admits there is also one eye on building his fitness in the summer.

He said:“I have an eye on pre-season because a couple of weeks ago I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it back fit.

“In some senses I was already aiming to have a good start to next season and looking at building up my fitness.

“It’s been a bonus that I have managed to get back fit. Whatever I can get out of the remaining games will be great for me.”

Kick-off at the SuperSeal Stadium tonight is 7.45pm.