Tommy Wright warns St Johnstone players over defending
A 3-0 defeat at home to Rangers last week made it three losses in their last four games for Saints.
St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright has blamed a series of individual errors for a recent drop-off in form.
A 3-0 defeat at home to Rangers last week made it three losses in their last four games for Saints, with their normally solid defence leaking goals of late.
The three conceded at McDiarmid Park made it 10 goals shipped in their last four games, and with experienced duo Richard Foster and Steven Anderson suspended, the defensive leaks could continue this weekend when they face Hearts at Murrayfield.
Wright, whose side sit fifth in the Ladbrokes Premiership despite their recent slump in form, cited a series of mistakes and suggested he may lose patience with his players.
“It's individual errors for the majority of the goals, simple,'' he said.
“Individuals will have to make sure they do better and if you don't do better, I will have to make changes.
“So the individuals who are playing at the moment and keep making the same mistakes, it will be up to me to change it and put other people in.''
However, Wright defended the overall performance of his back four, and claimed he was confident they can cope without their two suspended regulars.
He said: “I wouldn't use the word shaky to describe the defence. I think we've made individual mistakes but we have defended well for the majority of the games.''
Defending set-pieces has been a problem, and Wright said: “That's where people haven't been switched on, but I wouldn't describe it as shaky.
“I have a squad of players where if someone is injured or suspended, we have others who come in and do well.
“Aaron Comrie has done really well, so I have no problem with people who are going to come in and replace those who are suspended.''
Despite the recent drop-off, Wright is pleased with Saints' start to the season but is targeting wins against Hearts and Ross County in the days ahead to round off the first third of the Ladbrokes Premiership season.
“We have 14 points out of nine games and that's a good start to the season; we're in the top six,'' Wright said.
“We work on the basis to try and get a minimum of 15 for each 11 games because we feel 45 points will get you top six, so as manager I look at it and we've had a reasonably good start.
“What we've got to do is in the last two games of this 11, we've got to pick up points to get across that 15 barrier and get as high a number a possible and get to 20 if we can.