St Johnstone's defeat at home to Celtic might not have come as the biggest shock and although the result didn’t fall in the Perth outfit’s favour, there were some silver linings that could be taken from the defeat.
Manager Callum Davidson pointed out in the aftermath that his players had done a pretty decent job of restricting the cinch Premiership champions, who mustered 12 shots across the 90 minutes of the 4-1 defeat – with only four shots that were on-target.
Of course, those efforts proved to be rather definitive but there were one or two rays of light elsewhere, too. Drey Wright, the St Johnstone winger, became his side’s top goal scorer in the league with a fine strike from distance that arrowed into the bottom corner.
It takes the 27-year-old’s tally to five for the campaign and the former Hibernian player is pleased to have added a clinical edge to his game this term – even if he is still a little unaccustomed to getting on the scoresheet on a more regular basis.
“It is nice to get amongst the goals and long may it continue if it helps us pick up points,” said Wright. “Personally it is a good thing for me. It has never really been a massive part of my game.
“I think my highest total has always been three and that was my first year playing the game. I was becoming a bit of a tap-in merchant this season, all very similar goals.
“But the one on Wednesday against Motherwell was a good finish and then against Celtic was from outside of the box. The goalkeeper got a touch but seeing the ball hit the back of the net was a relief.
“There is a bit of variety to the goals now, which is nice. But I’m not sure I’ll be getting encouraged to keep shooting from that distance because I’ve had a few in training and previous games nowhere near the net.
“I played striker Sunday league and scored loads of goals. The professional game is a bit tougher!”
St Johnstone’s season will not be defined by results against either half of the Glasgow duopoly but Wright believes he and his team-mates can take positives from the loss nonetheless.
The defeat means Saints have now lost eight of their last nine outings in all competitions. However, Wright saw enough in the performance to leave him convinced that an upturn in fortunes is just around the corner – good timing, considering a trip to Tannadice is next on the agenda.
“When you get the ball against Celtic you need to protect it and I think we did that,” he reasoned. “It was probably one of our best performances in possession against them and we limited them to fewer chances. But, with the quality they have got, they will punish you.
“We were 3-1 down at half-time but were still quite positive. When we get the ball down and play we are a good side. The surface has been mentioned a lot and it is difficult to do that but I think both teams gave a good account of themselves.
“Consistency is massive in this league and we have put in a few good performances now. If we keep that up we will pick up a lot more points than we have over the previous little run.
“We have a massive game away at Tannadice next and all eyes will be on that. We know that every game is winnable and there is no reason we can’t put a solid run together and climb up the table.
“Last Wednesday [when St Johnstone defeated Motherwell 2-1] was massive for us and now we have a bit of a six-pointer that we will be looking to win.”
