Tommy Wright not easing up as St Johnstone target top six
St Johnstone's convincing 2-0 home win over Dundee left them in a "good position'' for a sixth successive top-six finish in the Ladbrokes Premiership but boss Tommy Wright will have no slacking.
St Johnstone's convincing 2-0 home win over Dundee left them in a "good position'' for a sixth successive top-six finish in the Ladbrokes Premiership but boss Tommy Wright will have no slacking.
Paul Paton scored his first goal since signing last summer with a header in the 12th minute before fellow midfielder Blair Alston added a second seven minutes later with a low drive.
Saints saw out the rest of the game with a degree of control and although the Perth club remain in fifth place they are nine points ahead of seventh-placed Kilmarnock and 10 clear of Dundee with only five game remaining before the split.
Asked if he expected a top-half finish the Northern Irishman said: I don't expect anything.
"I've said to the players that we've put ourselves in a good position.
"It's extremely difficult for Kilmarnock, who are nine-points behind, in seventh place to catch us. We've one-eye on Hearts (fourth) with one point of a difference.
"But until we get enough points to get in the top six we'll not relax and you can't take your foot off the gas.
"We'll not do that, we're going to Motherwell next week and hopefully get another win.
"But I thought we dominated from the first whistle and thoroughly deserved the victory and probably the margin could have been more with the opportunities we had.
"The tempo we played at was really good and it's a great three points.
"It was more like us at home and when we play at that tempo from the first whistle to the last there's not many teams that can stay with us.
"It was a good all-round performance and one we should be producing more often at home.''
Dundee boss Paul Hartley was left baffled by his side's performance.
He: 'We were second best in every department. It was a really poor, flat performance from us.
"We are sometimes a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde kind of team.
"We've been excellent over the past month (two wins, two draws) but today we were poor in every department.
"Our ball retention wasn't good enough, too many loose passes, we were sloppy and we just couldn't get going.
"It is a massive blow to our top-six hopes. We have a tough run-in, five games left starting with Celtic next week and games are running out.
"We are three points off sixth but we are looking over our shoulder. That's just the way the league is this year. We need to get better.''