SCOTT TANSER, the St Johnstone defender, has perhaps better than anyone summed up why this club has enjoyed so much success in recent years.

There will be no top six finish this time but the Scottish Cup was won in 2013, Europe has been a regular occurrence and it says a lot that this campaign, which has been just okay, has come as something of a surprise.

So, what is the secret to this small club’s good times? Tanser, who is hoping to stay on after his deal runs out, believes he knows.

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“This is the best club I have been at and I have loved it this season,” said the left-back who was his side’s best player in their midweek win over Hamilton. “It has been a delight being here, everyone around me has helped make me a better player over the last year.

“When you go to some clubs they do things differently but everyone is together here, there are no outcasts in our squad. That’s not just the squad but the whole club.

“In the past I’ve been to clubs where the dressing-room is split into the older ones and the younger ones. But it’s not like that here, everyone is in it together and there is a real spirit among everyone.

“Obviously the supporters get on your back at times like they do at every club but that’s part and parcel of football and in the main everyone has been great.”

It has been suggested that this was a season too far for St Johnstone. Maybe it was a summer too far as yet again Tommy Wright’s players hardly had any time off.

There will be no Europe next season which means a few more weeks to recover and pre-season training should be a less frantic affair. It could well make a big difference.

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“I wasn’t here last season or before, but I know how well the lads did in the past,” said Tanser. The club has been in the top six for a lot of years and even if we miss out this season we will have a chance of doing again next year.

“I think it has been hard on the lads not getting a break because of playing in Europe so often.

“I came in mid-June last year, which was strange for me because I have been used to getting five or six weeks’ break in the summer down in England.

“So it was a bit of a shock not getting much of a holiday, but getting a better break this summer can only help the lads recuperate. Hopefully that will make a difference for us next season because you need time to go away and relax."