Liam Gordon stressed the importance of St Johnstone playing their part in the scenario which would secure the Perth club a top-six finish.

Ahead of the final pre-split Scottish Premiership fixtures this weekend, the Betfred Cup winners are in seventh place, two points behind St Mirren who are away to second-bottom Hamilton on Saturday.

Saints need to beat 10th-placed Ross County at McDiarmid Park to have any chance of finishing in the top half of the table, and Gordon insists that has to be the main focus.

The 25-year-old defender said: “It is an exciting weekend.

“It is make-or-break in that sense, but all we can do is go out and get three points hopefully and put the pressure on St Mirren. That’s all we can ask for.

“It is not in our hands. All we can do is take care of our own performance and what will be will be.

“But we don’t want to be in a position where we come in after 90 minutes and we have let ourselves down, and something has happened at Hamilton which would have given us a gate into the top six.

“We are looking to hopefully get top six, but also getting the three points gets you to 40 and hopefully that will secure your (Premiership) status. And you obviously still have five games to go where you can pick up points.

“Regardless of the outcome on Saturday, three points is what you want because it can put you in one direction but can also save you in another, so it is a massive game for us.”

After an indifferent start to the season under new boss Callum Davidson, the McDiarmid Park side have found a level of consistency which also brought the reward of the Betfred Cup trophy for the first time in the club’s history with the victory over Livingston at Hampden Park last month.

The Perth side are unbeaten in four league games, and in 14 matches since the turn of the year they have only lost to champions Rangers and Celtic.

Gordon said: “We knew that we were doing the right things and it eventually was going to click.

“You can’t just expect a new manager to come in with a new style of play and for it to click overnight.

“It can take months, sometimes even seasons, but luckily enough it kicked in at the right time, the halfway point, and it has given us a good platform to go and push for the remainder of the season.”