Tommy Wright expects his St Johnstone players to come out firing on all cylinders against Motherwell after they responded well to their trashing by Celtic during the international break.
The two-week gap has not dissipated the hurt caused by their 6-0 home defeat against the Ladbrokes Premiership champions and Wright has told them to take their determination to atone into the Fir Park fixture.
Saints have lost four games in a row after claiming a point against Aberdeen but their losing streak came as they travelled to Ibrox and league leaders Hearts and faced Celtic twice.
Wright said: “We knew that run of games was going to be really difficult. You couldn’t get a tougher run of fixtures at present, unless you throw Hibs in there. It was difficult.
“Could we have done better? Yes. Were there aspects of our game I was pleased with? Yes. But we made far too many mistakes and we were too easily beaten, particularly in the Rangers (match) and Celtic 6-0 game.
“So we have got to learn from that and move on. That’s all you can do. The next game is always the most important one. Win on Saturday and the 6-0 will be forgotten.
“But I’m expecting a reaction. I probably don’t need to do much in terms of motivating them for the game. I know they are hurting. They were hurting on the Sunday after the game and the Monday.
“But we have trained really well this week. But I keep saying to the players, they have got to take that into the game and play well for 90 minutes.”
Saints have won four of their last five matches at Fir Park but Stephen Robinson’s Motherwell side are also desperate for points after going five games without a win.
“We have got a decent record there but it’s always a difficult place to go,” Wright said.
“Stephen’s done a wonderful job. They play in a certain way that suits the players he has got. They make it difficult for you, they ask questions.
“I like the way he sets up his team, there’s a lot of energy in his team, a lot of quality, they put a lot of balls in the box.
“If we don’t compete with them, we won’t get a positive result. We have to make sure we compete and play on the front foot as much as we can.”
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