Our good form over the winter months ensured that we had enough of a buffer to sustain the loss against United without any harm to our league standing. Saturday delivered the bonus of a defeat for Aberdeen to keep us in the hunt for the prized second place. We’ve lost only two of our last ten but the avoidance of a third will be the priority on Tuesday.
On paper the eleven that started against United was as strong as we could muster but several players were carrying injuries. We'll need to hope that the physios have worked some magic over the weekend.
The arrival of Craig Reid will extend the manager's options and in particular offer a solution to the 'right back problem'. With both Ramsden and Kerr unavailable we've been forced to the unhappy compromise of switching Hammell from the left side. Reid, who was given 20 minutes of game time on Friday, must be likely to start against St Johnstone and also ensure that the left side of our back four is restored to full strength.
The manager’s pre-match interview last week outlined the injury crisis and given that it followed a three week break it cast a cloud over our prospects. However, he was quick to praise the willingness of those at less than full strength to play at Tannadice and there were no obvious signs of further damage. With any luck we’ll still see a recognisable team take to the pitch in Perth.
300 'Well fans last time
St Johnstone are likely to be missing Frazer Wright as he was carried off with ankle ligament damage in their loss against Inverness. That will force a change in defence but at the other end of the Saints team will be their main goal threat May. He scored on our last visit to Perth when we offered up an under par performance. Tommy Wright was taking notes at Tannadice on Friday and he’ll be well aware of our strengths and weaknesses.
If we can muster a fully fit squad our chance of taking all three points would be high but this game may have come around too soon. It may be that we’ll be content to settle for a point after a 1-1 draw.
Remember our last trip to McDiarmid Park?