Tommy Wright ripped a strip off his St Johnstone squad and warned he won’t accept a stroll to the end of the season.
The Perth men’s top six hopes were dashed as they slumped to a 3-0 defeat after a shocking closing spell against Motherwell .
They are now eighth in the Premiership - seven points behind Hibs who are in sixth - leaving their top six hopes in tatters.
And Wright said: “Maybe I was the only one in the dressing room who believed we could still make it.
“The run hasn’t been great and there’s reasons for it. I’ve told them but I think they believe too much of their own hype from earlier in the season.
“They have stopped doing the things we did on a regular basis, that’s the annoying thing for me.
“I won’t forget that last 20 minutes and how they failed to respond.
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“The top six thing is important. It’s not the most important thing for this football club, which is to stay in the league.
“But I am driven. I have to question how driven some of the players are after that last 20 minutes.
“It’s not good enough but I’ll address it.
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“We have to finish as high as possible but if it’s anything like that last 20 minutes then it’s going to be a long seven games.”
Wright’s side missed a fifth penalty of the season when Liam Craig saw his woeful effort saved by Mark Gillespie but they also fluffed several decent chances to take the lead.
The boss raged: “There wasn’t much in the first half but we got the penalty. It will probably be the last penalty Liam will ever take.
“He’s missed a few recently. But what happened after that was totally unacceptable.”
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