Motherwell made a great start to the season with an opening day win in Inverness but since then we have struggled badly. Losses to Dundee United, Hearts and Aberdeen have followed and we have slipped down the table.
It should be acknowledged that in the run of three defeats only the Hearts performance was truly awful. But not being terrible is a low bar to set and few fans would claim we were truly deserving of anything from United or the Dons either.
On Saturday we bid to halt our losing run in Perth when we take on a St Johnstone outfit who also have cause for concern. They have lost narrowly at Hearts and Dundee while home matches with Inverness and Ross County have yielded only two points.
St Johnstone are likely better than their current 10th place suggests but nor are they strong enough that we could take solace from an improved performance in another defeat. Ian Baraclough may have kept us up last season but his record in doing so does not give him much time to prove himself this campaign.
The absence of Stephen Pearson in the midfield is a continued blow and it is hard to see any combination of Keith Lasley, Jack Leitch and Jake Taylor which convinces. Nor has Scott McDonald hit his stride in a deeper role and our undoubtedly talented wing-duo, Lionel Ainsworth and Marvin Johnson, remain inconsistent.
A 1-1 draw at McDiarmind will not be anyone's idea of a proper end to our slide but it could be enough to keep the wolves from Baraclough's door - for a week, at least.