ST JOHNSTONE’S poor run of form in front of goal is “nothing to worry about”, according to forward Glenn Middleton, after his side drew another blank against St Mirren on Sunday.
The Perth side have failed to win any of their four cinch Premiership matches so far, scoring just once. In fact, they have failed to win over 90 minutes in any of their nine competitive matches so far this season.
Yet they have amassed three league draws, boast the best defensive record in the division and have put in some impressive displays against the likes of Galatasaray and LASK in European competition. That’s not to mention playing Thursday-Sunday every week for the past month and the travel involved.
“It’s been a pretty full-on schedule but, credit to us, everyone keeps going,” said Middleton. “We’ve loved it and can’t complain because it’s what you want.
“Hopefully this busy period happens again at the start of next season.”
The 21-year-old Rangers loanee, who was part of the club’s historic double-cup-winning success last season, entered Sunday’s match as a second-half substitute in place of Callum Hendry. It wasn’t until Middleton took to the field that St Johnstone really started to bother the home side.
The Scotland under-21 cap, who is away with Scot Gemmill’s squad again this week, partnered Stevie May and, latterly, Chris Kane up front and combined well a number of times with Shaun Rooney down the right.
However, it was from a dead ball in injury-time that he almost secured all three points for Callum Davidson’s men. “The free-kick was obviously frustrating,” he said.
“The ball was coming down but just not enough. If I was a couple of yards back, it might have gone in. Hopefully next time.”
Middleton added: “When one drops in for us, the goals will start coming. It’s nothing to worry about.
“We’ve had a lot of games of football but with all respect to St Mirren I think we finished the stronger team. We looked dangerous and everyone was still running as hard as they were in the first minute.”
Another player who once again ran himself into the ground was St Mirren midfielder Jamie McGrath who, if he is willing to move on before the transfer window shuts tonight, showed no signs of taking his foot off the gas.
The Irishman joined up with the former Dunfermline manager Stephen Kenny’s Ireland squad yesterday amid speculation he could move on, with Engish Premier League and Championship clubs noted with an interest.
“I’m not really focussed on it, to be honest,” said the 24-year-old. “Whatever happens will happen. I’m away with Ireland so I’m looking forward to that. That’s really what my focus is on.”
Asked if he ever thought that Sunday’s draw could be his final match for the Paisley side, he added: “No, not at all. I don’t want to think like that, just focus on getting the three points and we didn’t get it today so it’s a bit disappointing.”
McGrath amassed 17 goals for the Buddies last season and already has two so far to name this campaign. And despite him and his team-mates failing to find the net, McGrath took positives from the more robust defensively display to that shows against Celtic the week before.
“That was the aim today, to keep a clean sheet. We shipped a lot of goals last week so we had to set that right. I don’t think we’ve had a clean sheet this season so far, so it’s definitely something to build on and stop that losing streak we were on. It’s certainly something to build on going forward.”
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