St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright is taking no notice of this season’s positive results against struggling Dundee ahead of their latest clash.
Jim McIntyre’s side visit Perth on Saturday for the final Tayside derby of the campaign and sit at the bottom of the Ladbrokes Premiership, three points behind St Mirren.
Dundee have suffered three defeats against Saints this term, most recently a 2-0 loss at McDiarmid Park earlier this month.
However, Wright is looking for a reaction to the 2-0 loss against Kilmarnock in Saints’ last outing and believes the previous three victories over the Dens Park men so far this season are irrelevant.
“We must do better than we did at Killie,” the Northern Irishman told the club’s official website.
“We were lethargic and didn’t look like we had any sort of drive about us.
“So the players know that they must do better and this is a great game for us to come back into after the break.
“It’s been a stop-start season and ideally I’d like to have played sooner after the defeat at Rugby Park but we had a break because of the (William Hill Scottish Cup) semi-final.
“The players are itching to get back and I’m sure the supporters are too.
“It’s going to be a difficult game and the fact we’ve beaten them three times already this season means nothing.
“We have to put in a performance and if we do that I’m confident we’ll come away with all three points.”
While Dundee are involved in a battle for survival, Saints sit seventh in the table, one point ahead of Motherwell.
However, Wright insists the players have “a duty” to perform in the last five fixtures.
He said: “We can’t slip into holiday mode, we’ve still got five games to play and we want to take as many points as possible to ensure we secure seventh place come the end of the season.
“Dundee will be hungry and they’ll bring a decent support with them to back their team.
“It’s a big game for them and they’re fighting for their lives and people’s jobs too – relegation has a big impact at a football club.
“We have a duty to ourselves and our supporters to put in performances over the final five games and finish the season strongly.
“The campaign isn’t over yet and we can still make this a very good season for us.”
