IT was really disappointing last week not to be able to play the game against Ross County.

We travelled up to Dingwall the night before, we had done all our preparation and were looking forward to the game but these things happen and we will go back up later in the season.

It was a vital game for both teams when you look at the league table and so is the one against St Johnstone this afternoon.

Every season you will find games that will be called off and we will handle the County game, and the fixture at home to Celtic, when they come around again.

It is the trip to Perth that is at the forefront of our minds, though. Hopefully there will be no weather problems and we will be able to get the game on and come away with three points.

With the way the league is shaping up, this is a really big game for us and one we are determined to win.

January is always a big month in any season and we have a lot of really important games coming up as we look to climb the Premiership table.

The bug that had been going around the club has cleared up so we have a bigger squad to choose from as we look to move closer to St Johnstone.

We are only looking at the teams above us as we look to get into the top six this season.

I think our form has been good but we know we could be sitting with more points right now when you look at some of our performances.

We are eight points behind St Johnstone and four ahead of Motherwell at the moment and we need to be putting a run together if we are to move up the table and challenge for a place in the top six this season.

We have a bit of a gap over the teams at the bottom and the sooner we can extend that gap and then secure our place in the league for next season the better.

You are always looking at ways to improve and build. We would love to sign players up on long term deals but a club of our size can't do that at the moment.

The quicker we are safe, the quicker we can sit down and talk to the players that are here and look ahead slightly longer term as well.

To do that, we need to put more points on the board and look to string a few wins together, which is not something we have been able to do since we came up to the Premiership unfortunately.

We are going into the game today in confident mood. The boys have trained well in difficult conditions this week.

I think it will be a good game against a side that have been on a solid run of their own in the last few weeks.

They are a good team, a well organised team, but one that seems to go under the radar.

Nobody really talks about them that much but I think they are a really good side and they are an established Premiership team now.

That is what we want to be for years to come and a win at McDiarmid Park today would be another step in the right direction for us.