Nasty side must take the road to Dundee
Friday, 18th Dec 2020Euan Murray - "we stuttered last week against Morton and it is important for us that a stutter doesn’t turn into a blip."
St Johnstone’s progress into the semi final of the Betfred Cup at Dunfermline’s expense is still hurting claims the Pars captain Euan Murray but he is happy that there has not been a lot of time to dwell on it:-
“We know we need to take the positives from the game and move on to what is going to be another tough game come Saturday.
“We have been on a good run of form, obviously we stuttered last week against Morton and it is important for us that a stutter doesn’t turn into a blip.”
After losing their first game of the season last Saturday at home to Morton and then given a severe test by St Johnstone, this Saturday’s trip to Dundee offers the chance to quickly get back on track. Euan continued:-
“One of the things that we had spoken about reflecting on the Morton game was getting back to what had brought us so much success in the early part of the season which was doing the nasty side of the game better than what we have been the last couple of games.
“Also the defensive organisation and shape, basic things like setpieces. I thought to a man, over 90 minutes, and all the way through into extra time that we were excellent.
After losing their first game of the season last Saturday at home to Morton and then given a severe test by St Johnstone, this Saturday’s trip to Dundee offers the chance to quickly get back on track. Euan continued:-
“One of the things that we had spoken about reflecting on the Morton game was getting back to what had brought us so much success in the early part of the season which was doing the nasty side of the game better than what we have been the last couple of games.
“Also the defensive organisation and shape, basic things like setpieces. I thought to a man, over 90 minutes, and all the way through into extra time that we were excellent.
“We were a fair match though in the first half St Johnstone put a lot of pressure on us without creating a great deal of chances. I felt comfortable, we spoke about that at half time and in the second half it can go either way.
“They go one goal up and they had their tails up but again it showed great strength of character to make it one each. Then ultimately Lewis McCann has a great effort at the end and big Zander has pulled off a terrific save to keep them in it.
“We could have won it and once it goes to penalties it is a bit of a lottery. Fair play to them they took their chances in the penalties and they have gone through.
“It is always very sore to lose a game of football at any stage whether it is the league or whether it is in the cup. I think we gave a right good account of ourselves in the game but ultimately we didn’t go through. There are certainly a lot of positives to take into the game in Dundee.
“There are many positives and we will implement that on Saturday again. We go there full of confidence, we felt on Tuesday that we put Morton behind us now. We have shown what we are all about this season and it will certainly give us a boost going into the game on Saturday.”
The Dundee fixture will bring 26 year old Euan up against his former team mate and Dunfermline captain, Lee Ashcroft. He revealed that they had a little contact here and there since they parted company:-
“Ashy is a great boy, somebody who I had a great relationship with and a great person round about the place. He has moved on to Dundee now and he will be looking to put one over us. At the same time when it comes to the game on Saturday there is no time for friendships and I’m sure that he would tell you just the same.
“We expect it to be a physical competitive game, that is what you get when you go to Dens. I think on Tuesday we showed, that on our day, we are a match for anybody when it comes to physicality. That will be massive going into the game on Saturday.”
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