Wright In Favour Of Fan Initiative

Photo by Jeff Holmes

Tommy Wright has welcomed Inverness's 'pay what you can' initiative for St Johnstone's visit on Tuesday night.

However, the Saints boss questioned the sense in scheduling a midweek fixture for the depths of winter.

The Highlanders are the first top-flight club in Scottish football to ask fans to set their own prices, following the lead of League Two outfit Albion Rovers, who were the first to trial the scheme last season.

However, as much of Scotland freezes, the McDiarmid Park boss asked why the game could not have been played when the weather was likely to be more favourable.

"All clubs are trying things,'' Wright said.

"Clubs at this time of the season are trying to sell half-season books and stuff like that.

"But I think the fixture list couldn't be looked at.

"I don't think having midweek games in the middle of January is the best time.

"We used to have a midweek game in the spring.

"If we are going to have midweek games why not have them in the months of August or September and into the end of March and April.

"To have fans travelling in January, no matter where it is to - a wee bit of common sense should be used.

"But I hope there is a good take-up. It is a great initiative.

"Albion Rovers tried it and were quite successful so it might be something that they can take advantage of.''

St Johnstone are in sixth place in the table with 32 points despite being the league's third lowest scorers with 19 goals.

Wright insists his side have found a new way to pick up the points following the departure of striker Stevie May, who signed for Sheffield Wednesday in the summer after notching 27 goals for the Perth club last season.

The Northern Irishman said: "The loss of Stevie May is a big loss but there not many teams who can score 19 goals and still be in the top six.

"We have found a way to deal with it. "We have 10 wins and we only had 14 wins before the split last year so our points total is higher than at this stage.

"We have found a different way to do it. We have been even tighter at the back this season and to score 19 goals and be in top six shows how good we can be.''