As he does every week, Graeme Shinnie sat down and spoke with the Red Matchday programme editor. To watch what some of what he had to say for his programme notes, click on the red button.

“It’s been a frustrating couple of weeks here at the club with results – and events – having gone against us.

“That said, I thought we played ok against St Johnstone.

“First half we controlled most of the ball but did not open them in the front areas and attack as aggressively as we maybe wanted to. We did not have a cutting edge. Second half we maybe did not have as much of the ball and played a bit more direct.

“We showed good character to get the goal back but disappointing we did not go on and win the game with the chances we had after Niall picked out that fabulous free-kick. I have seen the penalty incident back when Gary went down at the end. Little things like that don’t seem to be going our way which is frustrating. We take the draw and move on to Saturday.

“It is always tight at the start of the season and that is why you want to put as many wins and get as many points on the board as quickly as you can. We have maybe had a slow start, but we have always been able to go on good runs, it is something we have done a lot since I have been at this club and hopefully we can go on another starting with Saturday. We want to get some momentum going, especially with the games coming up next week.

“Saturday will be a tough one, it might not always be pretty, but the important thing is the result. A win will make the league table look better and send us off into a big week with away games at Hibs in the cup and then Celtic in the league in a good frame of mind. It’s a big afternoon, but with the support of a big crowd, it can be an important one in getting things moving for us.

“We have had plenty of battles with Motherwell over the last few seasons and I don’t expect Saturday to be any different. They always make it very tough. We have to match them on every level and then hopefully home advantage will play its part in a game we are desperate to win.

“I can understand with some of the results that there have been some grumbles, but the players need as many of the fans behind them as they possible. Hopefully the atmosphere on Saturday can be as good as it can. We need the fans to be that 12th man. It is so important for the team and it gives us a lift in the game when we need it. Likewise, we need to give them something to cheer about as well.

“So it is all about coming together to get the win.”

Graeme Shinnie at training on Tuesday.