The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
No panic over league position at Mcdiarmid – Davidson. P45
ST JOHNSTONE: Club must concentrate on getting first win
St Johnstone may be bottom of the Premiership without a win to their name so far this season but long-serving midfielder Murray Davidson insists no one at Mcdiarmid will be hitting the panic button any time soon.
Saints’ woes continued on Sunday as they lost 4-0 at home to Rangers with all the goals coming in the second half through Alfredo Morelos, Connor Goldson and a late Jermain Defoe double.
Davidson admits it is now vitally important that Tommy Wright’s team finally return to winning ways sooner rather than later.
However, while the players never get carried away when they are in the upper reaches of the league, they will not be too despondent because they are at the other end of the table at this early stage of the season.
The 31-year-old said: “We have gone to places like Pittodrie and Hibs and we feel we have been unlucky not to win those games.
“It is still six games in and we need to start winning matches and go on a run.
“We need to get that first win as soon as possible.
“We have never set targets and I have always said we need to look at it game by game because it is such a competitive league this season.
“We have some big games coming up and we need to find some consistency to get positive results.”
Davidson added: “We have been here before and there has never been panic.
“There have been times where we have been sitting second in the league and we don’t get carried away.
“It is what it is. I would much prefer to be sitting second but we are not.
“The last couple of games have been difficult.
“We felt we could have taken something against Rangers but we never. We now have Motherwell this weekend and we need to try to go on a run.
“If we do what we are good at then I feel we can go on a run of form, so at this moment there is no panic.”
Davidson admitted that the honest group of players at Mcdiarmid know the current state of affairs is simply not good enough.
He added: “The players are frustrated more than anyone.
“Everyone is frustrated but it is nobody else’s fault other than the players.
“We need to stand up. We train well and are told the right things.
“We showed glimpses against Rangers but we need to do it for 90 minutes.
“We need to all stand up and be counted, do it all together and try to go on a run. There is nothing else we can do.”
Saints had managed to contain Rangers in the first half on Sunday but conceded just two minutes after the restart with Davidson admitting that left the home side with a mountain to climb against Steven Gerrard’s side.
Davidson said: “We didn’t start the second half well enough.
“I think to concede the first goal two minutes after the restart set us back and I have said it for years that the first goal is massive.
“We had a mountain to climb after that and then we lost the second and the final two we lost when we were pushing. “It hurts but we need to bounce back.” Saints had a great chance to pull one back against Rangers on Sunday when a Davidson shot looked to have crossed the line with the score at 2-0 but he admitted even he wasn’t sure if his “goal” should have been given.
He said: “It was late in the game and we didn’t have much time even if I had scored.
“At the time, I thought it was in. “I have spoken to four people since and two have said it was in and two have said it wasn’t, but that not the reason why we lost.
“We need to do better in different areas but if it had gone in then who knows.”