St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson insists his side are still capable of staying in the cinch Premiership after Greg Kiltie’s winner saw relegation rivals St Mirren leave McDiarmid Park with a 1-0 victory.
The midfielder’s composed strike settled a tight match, and although St Johnstone were below par – failing to register a shot on target – Davidson believes his players are still up for the battle.
It looks increasingly likely that the Perth side will face a relegation play-off, as they now sit eight points adrift of 10th place St Mirren and remain five clear of rock-bottom Dundee with three games remaining.
Davidson said: “Is the fight there? Without a doubt, I am convinced, but we were trying to catch 10th and that’s why I am disappointed.
“Take it from January where we were bottom of the league by five or six points, it’s in our hands now to stay in the league.
“Last year was different as we were playing higher up in the league – it’s really difficult when you’re playing at the bottom.
“Different pressures create different problems and it’s a different type of football, it’s players not wanting to make mistakes and it’s trying to make sure they have the belief to do the right things.
“But this was another day like Ross County where you’re trying to catch a team above us – and unfortunately we haven’t.”
St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson, meanwhile, was full of praise for his side who ended a horror run of four successive league defeats.
The Northern Irishman picked out the performances of Curtis Main and Alex Gogic in particular as his team mixed steel in defence and attacking flair in their vital win.
He said: “I thought we showed a lot of quality, especially second half going forward where we were just a bit calmer on the ball.
“I felt the two centre-forwards set the tone, the two of them were a handful all day and Curtis Main was excellent – that’s the Curtis Main I know from Motherwell.
“He’s had a bit of stick here before I came but I know what I can get out of him and today he showed that.
“When you have got two boys chasing you down like that it certainly makes life hard for them and makes it easier for our defenders.
“You have got to make some big calls in the team and we wanted to get the right balance, with Connor Ronan and Greg Kiltie who were very good and were creative – but Gogic broke everything up and the goal comes from him breaking it up as well and sliding Alex (Greive) through – so credit to him.”
