The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Triple injury blow adds to Saints’ woe
DERBY: Young winger’s season over as midfield pair also pick up problems
The Tayside derby has come at a significant cost for St Johnstone.
On top of the three points lost, young winger Craig Thomson has fractured his collar bone and will be out for the season, while Chris Millar and Murray Davidson also sustained injuries.
The recovery period for Thomson hasn’t been determined, but manager Tommy Wright confirmed yesterday his 2015/16 campaign was over.
The Perth boss has yet to see a replay of the incident that caused the serious injury for his second half substitute, thought to involve Dundee United midfielder Paul Paton.
But his post-match reaction was: “OK, it was a fair tackle on Craig Thomson but he’s followed through and he is looking at a fractured shoulder.”
On the other two injuries, Wright added: “Midge took a knock on his hip – a similar type of problem to what he’s had. “Muzz has done his hamstring.” Meanwhile, Wright wasn’t pinning the blame on goalkeeper Alan Mannus, who let Ryan Dow’s shot squeeze past him for the only goal of the game.
He said: “There were a few mistakes before it got to the shot from Dow.
“Alan was on the move and it hit his side as he landed on it. It was similar to the one that hit the crossbar and he landed on in the cup final, which didn’t go in. Maybe luck was paying us back there.
“Alan has been magnificent for us. He’ll be disappointed but I can understand why it happened.”
Ryan Dow believes Dundee United have put a very big tick in a very big box as their Premiership escape act is starting to look increasingly realistic.
St Johnstone are the team which has inflicted greatest pain on the Tangerines, not just this season, but over the last three.
So to finally win at McDiarmid Park for the first time in four years is as big a psychological lift as they could hope for.
Dow’s first half goal, a significantly less than perfect strike that Alan Mannus should have kept out, was the only one of the game.
But it took over half-an-hour of 10 v 11 football, after Coll Donaldson got a red card for a ‘last man’ foul on Chris Kane, before the victory was theirs.
“It’s a massive goal and a massive win,” Dow said. “Especially with us going down to 10 men.
“We haven’t got the best record here and we haven’t had the best record against them recently. “They seem to be our bogey team. “It wasn’t if there were only a few minutes to play when Coll went off.
“We could all see the clock so we knew it was going to feel a very long time.
“But we defended well, we held on, and it’s big.
“Kilmarnock got a point, but we’ve still gained two points on them.”
Indeed they have, and they could gain another three by beating Partick Thistle tomorrow night, their game in hand and their second last before the Premiership is split in two.
Dow added: “The boys are all focused on Partick now but it was good to get a win at a ground we haven’t done well at.
“It’s back in our own hands now and that’s a nice feeling.
“Obviously with the split coming we need to try and pick something up at Firhill.
“The good thing is we have a nice semi-final to look forward to as well, that will take some pressure off the league campaign for a bit.”
A lot of United fans were still inside McDiarmid Park to cheer the players as they came out for their post-match warm-down.
And the backing the team are getting hasn’t gone unnoticed in the dressing room.
“The fans were terrific,” Dow said. “You need that to spur you on when your legs are gone.
“They stayed on at the end and all the boys went over to show their appreciation. They are maybe starting to believe we can do it.
“There’s a good spirit in the changing room, all of the boys are up for a fight.
“We all came in afterwards and everyone was saying how big it was to come away from home and win.
“And the point we got in the Dundee game looks even bigger now as well, being 2-0 down.”
St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright’s interest in Dow in the January transfer window, and his anticipated interest at the end of the campaign, hasn’t been in the player’s mind, he insisted.
“I’ve not thought about my future at all,” he pointed out. “And I know it’s easy to say that, but it’s true.
“There are a lot of boys in my situation and who are up at the end of the season.
“We’re just focused on staying up and the semi-final and when the summer comes I’ll start thinking about other things.”
Saints have loftier ambitions than United this season, and the defeat saw them drop a place to fifth.
But they only need one point at Kilmarnock on Saturday to claim a top six place, and probably will make it even if they lose.
Striker Steven MacLean said: “We’ll go there and try to get three points.
“Motherwell have gone above us into fourth but it’s still all to play for. I think it will probably go to the last game. “We want to get fourth.” It’s highly unlikely that MacLean will be playing at Rugby Park, as his history of knee injuries has meant the former Aberdeen and Rangers man has been stood down for games on artificial pitches this season.
But the veteran forward hasn’t ruled it out.
“If the gaffer says I’m not playing, then I’m not playing,” he said. “We’ll see what the week brings.
“I’ve missed out on a couple of games on artificial surfaces this season. I’ll just have to wait to hear what the gaffer says about it.”
MacLean admitted that Saints only had themselves to blame for the United loss.
He reflected: “Dundee United started the game better than us and it’s hard to get pressure going on that pitch and create a lot of chances. “The first goal out there is massive. “Fair play to United. We congratulate them on their three points.
“When they went down to 10 men we hoped we would create pressure but we just huffed and puffed.
“Muzz (Murray Davidson) hit the bar and we got a few balls across the face but there weren’t many clear-cut chances.
“We’ll dust ourselves down and go again. Top six is still in our own hands.”
There were a couple of penalty shouts for Saints – MacLean claiming he was impeded by Gavin Gunning in the first half and Chris Kane by Sean Dillon in the second.
Wright said: “It was like a wrestling match. There was one on MacLean and Kane. I thought that MacLean’s one looked particularly clear-cut.”
The Perth boss added: “We lost the game in the first 20 or 30 minutes. We didn’t win tackles or headers, first ball or second balls.
“They got their goal and had something to hang on to.
“After that we were much better but probably didn’t work the goalie enough. When they went down to 10 men we played into their hands by not passing enough.”
Meanwhile, United manager Mixu Paatelainen said: “The three points are more than welcome but we also realise that Kilmarnock will get points.
“I don’t think we’ll win every match and Killie won’t lose every match.
“It’s been such a rollercoaster already that you never know what’s round the corner.
“You guys have been drumming it in for months and months that Dundee United are going down. All the supporters are singing Dundee United are going down. At the moment we’re going down so there are no expectations at all.”