CALLUM Davidson has admitted he is going to be working hard during the winter shutdown - trying to bring in quality players who can help St Johnstone move off the bottom of the cinch Premiership in the second half of the season.

Davidson asked the members of his squad to do some soul-searching following a 3-1 defeat to Celtic at McDiarmid Park yesterday that meant the Perth club remained rooted to 12th place in the table. 

The former Scotland internationalist is hopeful he will be able carry out business during the January transfer window which will ensure last season’s double cup winners survive in the top flight this term.

“It’s going to be a busy couple of weeks,” he said. “I said to the players in there that some of you need to go and have a look at yourselves. We have to find a way of bringing in some players with quality to, with players who we have here, start getting us out of this mess.”

Asked if he thought St Johnstone’s season would improve when , Davidson said: “I hope so or I won’t be standing here talking to you!

“Listen, I definitely believe so. Seven or eight starters were missing today. With the addition of a few quality players a bit more luck, and more quality, I firmly believe we’ll start playing a lot better.

“The basics is the biggest thing. We did that really well last season and had fantastic success. The players have to be better at it or they won’t play. Simple.

“We allowed Celtic too much room and played some really sloppy passes. When you do that against a team like Celtic you’re always going to find it hard. If you look at the goals back, that’s not good enough.”