Reid All About The Saintees Game
Billy Reid spoke to the website’s Cammy Macdonald after Saturday’s 1-0 win over St. Johnstone.
“When you saw conditions today you knew it was never going to be pretty, but I was very proud of my players today as they battled for everything.
“Obviously I am going to say that I thought we deserved the win. Their goalie certainly had more saves to make than ours though they maybe had a few half chances.
“Defensively we were tremendous and our keeper was outstanding again. Our back four was solid, we worked away well in the middle of the park and Ian Harty was outstanding upfront.
“It’s a team game and I really don’t think I can ask for any more from my players. We have had yet another clean sheet and the players have really been a credit to me.
“I think you can go through the team and they have all been solid. Potter and Wilson have been solid at the back as have Mensing and Bollan. Malone on the left hand side works his channel and puts tackles in, and
“We played here a couple of weeks ago in similar conditions against Airdrie United but we lost that game and we were disappointed then. But I have winners in that dressing room and that’s what it’s all about for me.
“I live two minutes from the stadium and when I wake up in the morning I think ‘well here we go again its gale force winds’. So you know that it’s not going to be pretty and you see how the ball is being blown around sometimes. But it’s the conditions and you just have to adapt to it.
“Everything is about players. Once they cross the white line I really can’t do anything about it. Okay you can shake them up a bit and things but I took my time getting in players who were young and hungry. There is a little bit of experience there but we could do with a bit more, but we couldn’t afford to bring anyone else in. I have five or six guys from last season and the spirit in the dressing room is great, though it always is when you are winning. But I will have problems if I have a few injuries with some of my more experienced players.
“After the first quarter I really can’t ask much more than sitting joint top. The most pleasing thing is that we look quite solid at the back. We felt we might struggle with the wind on our faces in the second half and it’s a wee habit we have that we can’t seem to kill teams off. And to be fair in the second half we didn’t have many chances but defensively again it was a clean sheet and a 1-0 win. That’s about five or six times already this season so that’s pleasing. “Bryn did celebrate a bit early, he is a bit crazy, but it just shows how much he wants to win the game when you see that. His handling and everything are superb and as I said last week I don’t think there is a better keeper in the league. I was just glad for him that the ref. blew the whistle almost immediately because if they had scored Scotsport would have had a field day tomorrow!
“It’s nice to have points over the teams at the bottom though because you never know what’s around the corner. We have a small squad of sixteen or seventeen players and if I have injuries to key players then we will have problems so we will take it while it’s here.