Tommy Wright admits it has been a difficult season at McDiarmid Park, but insists he will have no need to worry about team talks ahead of the visit of Celtic tomorrow. The Perth side enjoyed a great 2014 - winning their first major trophy after 130 years when they picked up the Scottish Cup - but Wright accepts it has been hard to follow up that success. The St Johnstone manager said: "This season was always going to be difficult to repeat what we did last season to become the first group of players to win a trophy for 130 years - an incredible achievement. Europe started quite well for us but then we lost Stevie May (signed for Sheffield Wednesday) and to lose Steve MacLean (knee surgery) on the back of that shortly after has made it a difficult season. The players however have responded well and we are still in with a great shout of making the top six."
Celtic have hit their stride of late - winning seven straight games without conceding - and Wright is looking forward to the chance to pit his wits against Ronny Deila's side. He went on: "They are on a great run in the league and doing well in the cups and they have got Europe to contend with as well. They want to win the treble so I think Ronny Deila will be reasonably happy but no manager is ever fully happy with how things have gone. It is probably the perfect game for us after going out of the Scottish Cup at Queen of the South. There will be no motivation needed for the players as they always get themselves up for the big games. We are playing the champions and it is live on Sky as well, which is a big plus, and I am looking for us to try and bounce back."