St Mirren boss Oran Kearney knows the midweek Ladbrokes Premiership clash with fellow strugglers Motherwell is shaping up as a crucial test.
The Buddies are in the lower reaches of the table alongside Dundee and the Fir Park outfit after the 2-0 defeat at St Johnstone, where goals from David Wotherspoon and Matty Kennedy rendered spot-kick misses from Tony Watt and Liam Craig irrelevant.
Irishman Kearney is hoping to be in Paisley for the long-term after signing a three-year deal in succession to his short-lived predecessor Alan Stubbs.
But the Paisley side have not won since the opening day against Dundee and Kearney is desperate to kick-start his career in Scotland after enduring five successive losses.
“It’s very big against Motherwell,” he said. “There are three points available, just like there were against St Johnstone.
“I tend not to prioritise fixtures or teams or games. The same three points are available on Wednesday night.
“But with the two teams being down there, it does make it a big game.”
Kearney is hoping key defender Anton Ferdinand will be available after a groin strain ruled him out of the weekend game.
“Anton was touch and go and it is hard to know if he will be back.
“Possibly with him going off last week against Kilmarnock and the impact it had, unless I was sure I was going to get 90 minutes out of him I wasn’t keen. Say he broke down?
“He is close but whether he is ready…we will have to see.”
Perth manager Tommy Wright felt half a dozen goals would not have exaggerated his team’s superiority, especially in the second period.
While the Buddies were denied a spot-kick of their own at 0-0 when referee Andrew Dallas booked Danny Mullen for diving instead of penalising Murray Davidson, they failed to test a Perth side which squandered chances over and above their two penalties.
St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright questioned why his one-time Manchester United loan star Matty Willock escaped a red card for “an assault” on Davidson in the opening minutes.
But he praised his own midfielder for dusting himself down to play an influential role in the engine room, branding him “inspirational.”
“I’m pleased with the performance and the result. We kept our foot on the throttle after missing the penalties,” said Wright.
The Perth boss, who absolved off-form centre forward Watt for missing the penalty and a second-half sitter, believes his Saints are sitting nicely in seventh spot as the first quarter draws to a close with a trip to Livingston in midweek.
“In a group of 11 games, if you can get 14/15 points then after 33 games you are not far off competing for top six.
“So we have one game to go and are sitting on 14 points. It has been a good response, particularly from the two heavy defeats we have taken against Rangers and Celtic.
“We have responded very well, shown a lot of character and we showed we are a good football side as well.”
