Simo Valakari will be all business when he makes his return to Motherwell with St Johnstone on Saturday.
The McDiarmid Park boss was a Fir Park fans’ favourite when he wore claret and amber as a player back in the late 1990s.
But the Saints head coach, who was twice linked with the manager’s job at Motherwell, will have tunnel vision with a view to taking three points back to his new football “home”.
“I don’t know how I will feel,” said Valakari. “I have not been back there since I left for Derby County.
“I heard they have levelled the pitch!
“For me, it was one of my best times as a player to play there. I loved the club.
“I am very much looking forward to seeing the stadium again. There won’t be many people left from my time, if any. It will be totally new.
“But the only thing I am concentrating on now is how we can get the result from there.
“We saw how they played against Rangers in the semi-final. This is a tough, tough team.
“They have their specialities – set-pieces, long throw-ins, fast up top and wingers, good midfielders.
“That’s the only thing I am thinking.
“This is football business.
“This is my home now here and we go there for a result.
“It will be a fight for the 90 minutes to get a result.”
Saints focused on ending unforced errors
Valakari’s training ground priority this week has been making sure the unforced error count drops in the wake of the frustrating home defeat to Hearts.
“Look at the second goal we conceded,” he said.
“We went through that goal on Tuesday and you see it wiped out all these very good things we have done on the field.
“We played St Mirren – first half, good; Dundee, some good moments. But Hearts was the first match that we looked and felt like a big club.
“We weren’t any more St Johnstone who tries to play without much possession and almost steal points.
“Then comes this goal.
It’s like tennis. If you cut the unforced errors out, you have a much greater chance of winning,” St Johnstone boss Simo Valakari
“And that’s why we are where we are. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong at every stage of that goal.
“And at the same time Hearts showed their quality on the ball. Look back at the game and some of the moments we had, we need to be better.
“I am talking unforced errors. Opponents will put us under pressure, of course, and we will make mistakes.
“But when they are unforced, we need to cut them out and then we become a better and stronger team. That’s what we are working on.”
Valakari added: “We’re studying the moments when we can be better.
“There was a good example in the first minute when we have an opportunity to create a chance with a simple lay-off, don’t take it, lose the ball and Hearts are able to build some pressure.
“A second good example was when we were attacking, play a couple of crosses and we have a chance to keep them pinned in but give them a throw by kicking the ball straight out and they can breathe.
“It’s like tennis. If you cut the unforced errors out, you have a much greater chance of winning.”
