Tommy Wright agrees contract extension with St Johnstone

Contract extension: Tommy Wright. Picture: SNS Group

The Northern Irishman joined Saints as assistant manager to Steve Lomas in 2011 before becoming boss in the summer of 2013, leading the Perth club to their William Hill Scottish Cup final victory over Dundee United at Celtic Park the following season.

Wright was named Ladbrokes Premiership manager of the month for November and he took charge of his 250th match as St Johnstone boss in Wednesday night’s 2-2 home draw against Hearts and now he is looking to go continue his good work.

He told the club’s official website: “I’m delighted to be here and the chairman knew that I always wanted to stay.

“Negotiations have been going on in the background for a while now and we had everything agreed by the beginning of this week.

“After that it was just a case of dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s.

“The club has been absolutely brilliant for me since I arrived here and the chairman, the players, the staff and supporters have all been great from the moment I joined.

“Everybody’s played their part in the success we’ve had and I want it to continue.

“The chairman and I sat down back in January and decided the pathway we wanted to take the club.

“We were both concerned with the age of the squad and that’s not a dig at those players - because they were absolutely brilliant for me - but we wanted to go with a younger more mobile side.

“It’s worked very well so far with the successful season we’ve had and the chairman deserves a lot of credit for how well we’ve done in this campaign.”

Saints are unbeaten in seven games and sit in fifth place, one point ahead of Aberdeen whom they visit on Saturday.

After losing 1-0 to Celtic in the Betfred Cup final at Hampden Park last Sunday the Dons bounced back with a 1-0 win over Rangers at Ibrox on Wednesday night.

Wrights expects a tough encounter in the Granite City but is confident of a positive result.

He said: “It’s going to be a difficult game and they will be well up for it having played well in the final against Celtic before bouncing back with a win in midweek.

“They picked up a fantastic result at Ibrox - winning there which nobody else has managed so far this season - and they did it with ten men too which made it even more impressive.

“We’ve had a few ding-dong battles with them over the years and it’s always a game that the players look forward to.

“Both teams will be desperate to win and from our point of view we’re looking to maintain this run we’re on.

“We know if we avoid defeat we stay above them and we’re only six points off the top of the table with a game in hand too.”