St Johnstone: Losing streak leaves boss Tommy Wright gutted

Wright's Saints are ninth in the Premiership

St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright admitted to feeling "sore" after losing 2-1 in the league against Kilmarnock at McDiarmid Park.

However, he insists his players have to overcome their problems after losing five Scottish Premiership games in a row.

"We're working hard and it's a long season," Wright told BBC Scotland.

"We've got good players who know what it's going to take and we'll just get on with it. Testing? No."

St Johnstone, who are ninth in the league, got off to a great start thanks to Murray Davidson's opener - which was judged by referee Craig Thomson to have crossed the line despite Manuel Pascali's best efforts to clear.

But Kilmarnock fought back and Josh Magennis netted two quick headers to take all the points back to East Ayrshire.

"It's not a good result," said Wright. "Particularly after starting the game brightly and getting the wee bit of fortune that we needed.

"We should have gone on and controlled the game and won the game. But again we don't deal with a cross into the box which we should, and we don't deal with a cross from a corner.

"We end up 2-1 down and they've got something to hold onto. In the second half we had loads of possession, plenty of shots but very few on target, so we probably didn't do enough to win the game.

"We've got to find a way of being better in both halves of the pitch - find a formula to get a result."

St Johnstone had the ball in the net a second time, but Davidson's effort was ruled out for handball.

"He says he's gone in to head it and his arm's out," said Wright.

"I think it's gone in off his arm but whether it's deliberate or not and deserves a booking, I haven't really seen any footage to clarify that for me."

Saints' next match is away to Partick Thistle, who sit one point ahead of them in the Premiership.

"We need to win a game," added Wright. "It doesn't matter who you're playing next week, but we've got to win a game in the league. The fact it's Partick, and we can go above them, helps us."