St Johnstone chase another Rangers' scalp

Apr 5 2011 By Gordon Bannerman

THE top six may be slipping from his grasp and the Scottish Cup final bid now warrants priority status – but Derek McInnes has challenged his side to improve on last term’s SPL points tally.

Eighth placed Saints are 13 points shy of last season’s haul with eight games left, starting last night's unprecedented 6pm re-arranged home clash with a Rangers side coming off the back of a weekend defeat at home to Dundee United.

Twelve months ago, the title-chasing Ibrox side came to McDiarmid Park and crashed 4-1 to an exuberant Perth team.
With goals hard to come by this term, the bookies would quote you handsome odds of a repeat scoreline.

But McInnes, with nine cleans sheets posted in the last 10 McDiarmid matches, is seeking more of the same from his players in terms of performance levels – but with the addition of a cutting edge missing from so many games they have dominated this term.

And while his selections may be tweaked game by game with a semi-final looming with Motherwell, the foot won’t be coming off the gas.

McInnes observed: “We are trying to improve on last season and move up the table. Before the split we have games against Rangers and Celtic and a derby away to Dundee United. None of these are comfortable games. And it would be dangerous to come off it with the Motherwell game in mind.

“We will approach every match looking to win it. But with three games in a week before the semi-final one or two may get more game time to bring them up to speed while others may sit a game out. But there won’t be too many changes for the visit of Rangers.”

At the weekend, a frustrated McInnes admitted the goals for tally this term was an embarrassment.

But yesterday he observed: “We have created more chances in each of our last three home league games than we did that night against Rangers a year ago. We got a break or two in that match.

“I can’t pretend everything is rosy because it’s not. We know the fine margins between winning and drawing games.

“But the most frustrating thing is that we could have been comfortably in the top six if we had been able to add that vital bit of polish to our performance levels.

“We have potentially 10 games left and we must work to improve the scoring stats. Some people have told me we will give someone a doing but we have been waiting on that since November.

“I find it hard to criticise the players because their appetite, determination and general play has been very good. That makes it even more frustrating. But I want us to be more instinctive in the penalty box.

“We took a major hit missing out on a win against Kilmarnock on Saturday. We need nine points from our last three games before the split to have a chance of the top six.”

McInnes isn’t buying into the notion that Rangers will be more dangerous opponents coming off a defeat as they again bid to leapfrog Celtic.

He said: “Domestically Rangers and Celtic don’t lose too many games back to back. But it has happened in the past. I would expect a real tough game whether they had won, drawn or lost on Saturday.”

Defender Steven Anderson sat out the Killie clash with a knee strain but could return tonight. He will be assessed this morning along with Michael Duberry, who came through an unexpected full shift at the weekend.

Graham Gartland is again absent with a groin injury while Collin Samuel was withdrawn on Saturday with a hip strain. New recruit Jordan Robertson could get a start after impressing with a late cameo against Killie.

PA Sport/Easyheat Systems Player of the Month Chris Millar broke his scoring duck against Brechin in the cup and now aims to weigh-in with more goals.

He said: “Like everyone here I feel I should be scoring more goals. It has been disappointing not to get more. It’s the best feeling seeing it hit the back of the net and that’s one of the main reasons we are all in the game.

“It turned out to be a valuable goal at Brechin. I’d been out injured and the gaffer just wanted me to make an impact coming on at half-time. That was one way to do it I suppose!

“Despite the weekend draw with Kilmarnock there’s still so much to play for here. It’s exciting. It’s brilliant coming to this stage of the season with a Scottish Cup semi-final to look forward to. Everyone is busting a gut to stake a claim with some big games coming up.

“Maybe people are writing us off with these games against Rangers and Celtic. They are battling for the championship.

“But we are under no illusions that we need some big results to go into the Motherwell semi-final in good shape.”