St Johnstone must finally turn McDiarmid Park into the fortress teams despise this season, defender Alex Mitchell insists.
Form at the Perth stadium has been below par and you’d need to track back to November for the last three-points on home soil.
Across the league campaign so far, only three wins have been recorded at the Fair City venue as Aberdeen now visit tomorrow afternoon.
“You obviously want to make your home ground your fortress so it has been frustrating,” admitted centre-half Mitchell.
“We need to start games with intent because we are much better when we get that first goal.
“We seem to like going away from home, like our record shows. But for all the people who are turning up, we need to make it better.
“Some of the highs have been very high and the lows, low. The fans have stuck with us. Every player and member of staff appreciates that more than you would believe. It is massive to know people are backing you and turning out in numbers.
“We just need to get that home form better and we can have a really good end to the season.”
Mitchell says the poor home form has not applied any additional pressure when running out at McDiarmid Park.
He explained: “As a footballer, you put pressure on yourself. There is pressure to meet your demands. But the gaffer keeps us relaxed and is really good like that.
“The teams he picks are more than good enough to grab all three points, so it is up to us to do the business on the pitch.”
Before the international break – what a successful one it was for Scotland – Saints had played out a 1-1 draw away at Kilmarnock.
“We go into every single game wanting to win so we were frustrated we couldn’t get three points against Kilmarnock,” Mitchell said.
“How we started wasn’t good enough. You look at the surface and the type of game it was, they make it uncomfortable for you.
“Away from home, it probably was a good point but for me I was disappointed and I know the lads were too.
“We never go out to draw or lose and we want to get as high up the table as we can.
“We’re looking up as much as possible but you do need to also be aware of what is behind you.”
Mitchell added: “It has been hard to get momentum, I’d say.
“But we are training well and are trying to put right some performances that have not been nice on the eye. We are trying to get better and look forward to Aberdeen.”
Saints will have Adam Montgomery back available tomorrow, while Ryan McGowan has had another good week of training and is raring to go. Dan Phillips and James Brown will return from international duty.
Mitchell said: “Ryan is a brilliant guy and he has been really missed on the pitch, in my opinion.
“Again he has been another one giving me advice. I’ll need to keep on my toes as he’ll be wanting to play in that position.
“He is a really good person to have back in the team. He is easy to play with, gets you out of trouble and you can tell he has played at a high level.”
