James Brown insists St Johnstone will buzz off the boos when Rangers fans take over three stands at McDiarmid Park in this month’s Scottish Cup clash.
Saints chiefs came in for heavy criticism when it was announced the home support would only get the Main Stand for the fourth round tie. Supporters protested on Monday as fan group Fair City Unity’s section was empty in the first half of the defeat to Dundee United leaving only a banner which read: Against Modern Football.
Boss Callum Davidson also voiced his frustration admitting he sympathised with supporters as he wanted the best chance to get through to the fifth round. But defender Brown - who scored a wonder goal when Rangers last visited Perth in November - insists being outnumbered in the stands won’t affect their chances on the park because he thrives on abuse. He said: “Honestly it’s not something we’ve spoken about.
"As a player you just want to play in front of a full house. If there are more people shouting abuse at me, all the better! We will take it. It is the club’s decision but I would rather play in front of a full crowd. It’s up to them.
“I don’t think it puts us at a disadvantage. We’re on the pitch and you try to block out what is going on up in the stand. It’s 11 v 11 and it doesn’t change whether there are five people here or 10,000 people here.”
Saints will need an upturn in fortunes if they’re to pull off a cup shock. Having gone six games unbeaten they’ve now lost three in a row to drop out of the top six heading into this weekend’s trip to face Aberdeen.
Brown has warned that the rot has to stop before Davidson’s men are sucked back into another relegation fight having only escaped the drop through the play-offs last season. He said: “There are a lot of boys still here from last season. It was horrible and we don’t want to put ourselves in a position we shouldn’t be in this season.
“We will do everything we can to get back to winning and push for that top six. There’s been a lot of external noise about how well we have started the season and then within a week we have lost three games in a trot.
“We won’t get ahead of ourselves and we know that there is a long way to go. The least we can try and do is put it right at Aberdeen this weekend. That is all we can focus on. We need to get back to winning ways.
“We started poorly at Celtic, against Hearts and then against Dundee United. I don’t know what the answer is. We were sloppy from the start and couldn’t string three passes together, especially in the first half an hour.
“It was very poor. There is not a lot to say. We just have to put it right.”
Brown missed a glorious opportunity to put Saints ahead against United on Monday but could only head wide before Tony Watt netted the only goal of the game with nine minutes remaining.
He said: “I should have scored. It’s moments like that in the game where you think that if I could have knocked that one in….
“We also had chances at the end when their keeper made a decent save. So even when we were playing as poorly as that we might have got a result. It just wasn’t to be.
“It was very frustrating. We were poor, there is no doubt about that. It must have been a tough watch in the stands because I don’t think either team really offered a lot, especially in the first-half. We can’t dwell on it.”
READ NEXT
