Wright looking to rebuild after draw
TOMMY WRIGHT last night celebrated his 200th match in charge of St Johnstone by claiming a welcome point against a resurgent Ross County.
Despite his side extending their goal drought to 366 minutes, Saints marked his double century by ending a three-game losing streak.
And the Northern Irishman, who first took charge of the Perth team in a 1-0 Europa League win against Rosenborg in Norway four years ago, was pleased to get a point as he celebrated the achievement.
Wright said: ‘It’s a nice milestone and it’s the longest I’ve ever been at a club. As a manager, it’s not often you get to a double century.
‘It’d have been nice if we could have won but I’ll take the point.
‘When you come off the back off the three defeats, it’s good to stop that. Now we can start and rebuild again.’
Wright was unable to take his place in the dugout, after injuring his knee falling awkwardly in the tunnel during Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Hearts at Murrayfield.
‘I enjoyed watching it from the stand. It was a lot more relaxing,’ he added. ‘My knee is playing up, so even when it gets better I might stay up in the stand.
‘I enjoyed the performance but I was frustrated we didn’t get a break in front of goal. We just lacked a little composure.
‘But I have to be pleased with the way we played as I thought we dominated most of the game.’
Ross County boss Owen Coyle was also pleased with the point, but fears goalkeeper Scott Fox may be out for two months after injuring himself making a clearance.
He said: ‘A draw was probably fair and any point on the road in this league is a good point.
‘But the disappointment was the injury to Foxy. He’s torn his quad and, depending on how severe it is, he could be out for six to eight weeks. We will get it scanned and find out what grade of tear it is. But it is a blow.
‘But that’s seven points from four games since I came here and we should be unbeaten because we did well enough against Hearts not to lose that match.
‘It’s been an encouraging start but we need to try to keep improving.’
Wright had made five changes from the side that lost to Hearts. Out dropped Alan Mannus, Liam Craig, Chris Millar, Liam Gordon, and David Wotherspoon. Into the team came Zander Clark, Steven Anderson, Blair Alston, Murray Davidson and Paul Paton.
Despite regular skipper Anderson being back from suspension, Wright allowed Joe Shaughnessy to keep the captain’s armband.
Now at County, Coyle was back at McDiarmid Park for the first time since leaving Saints for Burnley ten years ago.
The 51-year-old made four changes from the side that beat Hamilton 2-1 on Saturday.
Michael Gardyne, Craig Curran, Jamie Lindsay and Billy Mckay all dropped to the bench. Their places went to Tim Chow, Ryan Dow, Ross Draper and Thomas Mikkelsen, who scored a dramatic late winning goal against Accies.
Mikkelsen was in the thick of the action early on, first requiring a head band after an accidental clash with Shaughnessy.
Back on the pitch, the patchedup former Dundee United striker saw a header saved by Clark.
The Dane then set up Chow in a good shooting position but the midfielder could only blast wide.
Up at the other end, Perth playmaker Stefan Scougall’s shot was blocked by Marcus Fraser.
Scougall was looking in the mood and the midfielder’s next effort from 20 yards drew a good save from County goalkeeper Fox.
But three minutes before halftime, Saints talisman Michael O’Halloran limped off and was replaced by David Wotherspoon.
O’Halloran had missed a month with an ankle injury before returning against Hearts but struggled.
But Saints should have taken the lead after the break when Brian Easton sent over a terrific cross from the left. The goal was at Paton’s mercy but he headed straight at Fox, who saved well.
After Fraser was booked for hauling back Steven MacLean, Wotherspoon’s free-kick was flicked on by Easton but the ball went agonisingly wide.
County were not offering much up front but Curran saw a goalbound header cleared by Anderson.
Davis Keillor-Dunn then had a great chance when Jason Naismith’s cross fell to him just inside the box. Keillor-Dunn had a clear sight at goal but Saints keeper Clark made a fine save.
County then had to change keeper when Fox picked up an injury while clearing the ball and was replaced by Aaron McCarey.
Wright sent on Graham Cummins for MacLean and Craig for Alston. In response, Gardyne replaced Dow, who had spent the night being jeered by home fans for choosing a move to County ahead of Saints.
Both teams tried their best to muster up some late excitement but neither could carve out any clear-cut chances.
Saints came the closest when Scougall sent over a corner during four minutes of stoppage-time.
Easton reacted quickest to get a flick on the ball but it sailed agonisingly over the bar.
The final blast of referee Barry Cook’s whistle was a blessing as it had been a poor encounter.
ST JOHNSTONE (4-4-1-1): Clark 6; Comrie 6, Anderson 6, Shaughnessy 6, Easton 6; Alston 6 (Craig 82), Paton 7, Davidson 6, Scougall 7; O’Halloran 4 (Wotherspoon 42); MacLean 6 (Cummins 71). Subs not used: Mannus, Tanser, Johnstone, Gilchrist.
Booked: None.
ROSS COUNTY (4-5-1): Fox 6 (McCarey 76); Naismith 6, Davies 6, Fraser 6, Van der Weg 6; O’Brien 6, Draper 6, Keillor-Dunn 6, Chow 6, Dow 6 (Gardyne 68); Mikkelsen 6 (Curran 53). Subs not used: Kelly, Schalk, Lindsay, McKay. Booked: Fraser, Chow, O’Brien, McCarey. Referee: Barry Cook.
Attendance: 2,267. Man of the match: Paul Paton.