The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Saints must find ruthless streak in bid to advance
Wright still confident that sharpness and fitness will turn tie
A “ruthless” St Johnstone team can turn their Europa League tie around, according to manager Tommy Wright.
The post-mortem of the 2-1 defeat to FK Trakai in the first leg at McDiarmid Park has boosted the Perth boss’s belief that they can progress to the second round in Lithuania.
But he knows that Saints will need to be much more clinical than they were on Thursday to make it happen.
“I’m more confident of winning the game,” Wright said, “but being 2-1 down in the tie certainly gives Trakai the advantage and they are obviously favourites.
“Having watched the game back on a few occasions, we could have won it quite easily.
“It was a game where we created more chances than the opposition. But they did look dangerous and a threat.
“Ultimately they took their chances which we didn’t do. We need to make sure we are ruthless when we go over there.”
Wright believes increasing match sharpness for his players should be a factor in Vilnius.
He said: “I don’t like making excuses, but this time we should be that little bit sharper and little bit fitter.
“I always say that first competitive game of the season is always important to get out of the way.
“It’s one players don’t really look forward to.
“No matter how much work you do, you always feel as if you’re trying to get your second wind.
“If we had been playing away first and won 2-1, then you would think it was a great result.
“We know we need to do better and that is the bottom line. We need to do better in terms of how easy it was for their goals.
“And up the other end of the pitch we need to be clinical.
“This is a squad which has gone to Aberdeen and scored five, can go to Rangers, Celtic and difficult places and get the right result.
“It’s the old cliche that it’s only halftime but they have the advantage with the two away goals.”
European football is the short-term focus but Wright believes that the longterm is healthy for Saints after seeing several youngsters play well against Aberdeen on Saturday afternoon.
He said: “It was a good workout for a lot of the young players.
“Saturday showed how the squad is evolving in terms of age. We are trying to bring our young players through.
“A lot who played will play a part this season and a couple will go out on loan.
“We had eight, ranging from Kyle McClean at only 18 to those at the age of 22 in the starting line-up.
“The make-up of the squad is changing in terms of its age and that is something we’re always conscious of doing.
“At a smaller club it takes a lot longer because we can’t go out and recruit the best young players and pay money for them.
“All of the young players did reasonably well so that was a positive for me.”