Tommy Wright called for a reaction from his St Johnstone players against Motherwell as they look to put a 6-0 drubbing by Celtic behind them.

The Saints were thrashed on their own patch by the Scottish champions before the international break.

Wright said the players were left hurting by the emphatic loss, which made it four defeats in a row.

However, the Northern Irishman praised their response in training since then and said he expects a response against the Steelmen.

He said: "We knew that run of games was going to be really difficult. You couldn't get a tougher run of fixtures at present, unless you throw Hibs in there. It was difficult.

"Could we have done better? Yes. Were there aspects of our game I was pleased with? Yes.

"But we made far too many mistakes and we were too easily beaten, particularly in the Rangers (match) and Celtic 6-0 game.

"So we have got to learn from that and move on. That's all you can do.

"The next game is always the most important one. Win on Saturday and the 6-0 will be forgotten.

"But I'm expecting a reaction. I probably don't need to do much in terms of motivating them for the game.

"I know they are hurting.

"They were hurting on the Sunday after the game and the Monday.

"But we have trained really well this week. I keep saying to the players, they have got to take that into the game and play well for 90 minutes."