Simo Valakari: Key points from the press conference (Motherwell)

Head coach Simo Valakari sat down with the broadcast media to preview our William Hill Premiership trip to Motherwell on Saturday.

Despite the disappointment of exiting the Scottish Cup at the semi-final stage, it has been straight back to work on the training pitch this week.

Simo said: “Yes, we were disappointed with the result, but we only look at what brings positive energy to us.

“A lot of teams took part in the competition and we were in the last four. That is an achievement.

“But of course, because we are competitive, we wanted to get to that final. We did not play well enough on the day so no hard feelings on that.

“We went back to training and it was very important that everyone was bouncing. Now we are in this moment that we have all been talking about, when the split comes, when the split comes.

“Now the last five games are here, it is very simple. We all know our situation – we need to win football matches.

“We are underdogs but, at the same time, it makes it clear for us. There are no grey areas. We need to go fully, play our football and be ourselves.

“We wanted to be in the position where we had something to play for when the split arrived. We are here, let’s go.”

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When asked about the importance of a fast start to the post-split fixtures, Simo said: “It will of course help massively. Some people make estimations and calculations on how many points you need, but we don’t do these types of targets.

“We need to go and perform. When we perform, we are likely to get a result. There will be twists and turns in these five games. I have said it many times, you need to enjoy these moments.

“Yes the pressure is there and you could call it negative pressure because we are playing to not get relegated. But you need to enjoy the pressure.

“We need to focus on our own. We can’t control what happens in other games. Let’s take care of our performance, then we can see what is happening.

“It is not easy to do but it is so important that we do every little detail as well as possible.”

Simo was asked what his message to the players will be.

He said: “Nothing to lose. We need to take the handbrake off, go fully. We are still here, still fighting strong. We have good players and have a good team.”

There are no fresh injury concerns from the Celtic cup game last week.

Daniels Balodis is continuing to adapt well to wearing his protective mask, while Simo was also asked about Uche Ikpeazu returning to action.

Simo said: “Daniels has been able to train every day. It is not easy to play with the mask, but he has had two weeks and becomes comfortable with it.

“It would be better to play without, but he is doing much better.”

He continued: “Credit to Uche. He has been working so hard to be here to help the team. He has suffered a lot but now he gives us something different.

“We can use Uche when we are winning to hold the ball and relieve pressure or if we need a goal, we can put him up there because he is so good and powerful in the box. I’m happy to have him back and he will be a big help.

“He has been out for almost a year so I would say he still cannot yet play 90 minutes.”

Simo was asked about the Saints support and said: “They have been fantastic following us and giving us the support, even when things are not going the way we all want. They have been there.

“As I told my players, we cannot go with fear. It is the same with the fans. They need to push the positive energy from the stands – that will help our team.”