Steven MacLean is confident St Johnstone are up for the battle after being sucked back into relegation trouble in recent months.
The Perth side looked comfortable in mid-table in February but a poor run of form – which cost manager Callum Davidson his job last month – has allowed clubs beneath them to close the gap.
Saints – who survived via a play-off last season – go into their post-split fixtures six points ahead of last-placed Ross County and only two points ahead of joint-second-bottom pair Dundee United and Kilmarnock.
Defeat at home to resurgent United on Saturday could leave the McDiarmid Park side sitting in the relegation play-off spot, but interim manager MacLean feels they can take encouragement from the fact they are still “in the driving seat”.
“I think they are, I think they know that,” he said when asked if the Saints players were fully aware of the gravity of their predicament.
“The players know they are in a battle. All we’re concentrating on is ourselves right now. We know what we’ve got to do. We’re in the driving seat, it’s in our own hands. We’re not really looking towards other teams.”
MacLean was handed the reins two and a half weeks ago after the sacking of Davidson. The 40-year-old oversaw a 1-1 draw at home to Hibernian in his first game in charge and – with no fixture last weekend – he arranged a “competitive” friendly against his former club Hearts last Friday to keep his squad ticking over.
MacLean is relishing his first taste of management but insists there is no update with regard to the longer-term managerial situation at Saints.
Asked if he had any further discussions about his position, MacLean said: “No, I’m just in charge until I’m told not to be.
“I’m enjoying it. It’s hard work. It’s something that’s always been in the back of mind that I wanted to do. I’m just really concentrating on the next five games.
“Dundee United is first so I’m just looking at that and putting all my thoughts into that and having the players focused.
“The boys have been excellent. They’ve done everything I’ve asked of them and more.”
Rodgers salutes Celtic's 'Champions League mentality' in St. Johnstone rout
Brendan Rodgers paid tribute to Celtic's "Champions League mentality" in their 6-0 rout of St. Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.
Kyogo Furuhashi scored twice, while Paulo Bernardo, Callum McGregor, Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah were also on target for the Hoops, who warmed up for their midweek European trip to Borussia Dortmund in emphatic fashion.
The dominant victory moved Celtic back to the top of the Scottish Premiership table - ahead of Aberdeen on goal difference - as they continued their perfect start to the season, with a sixth win in as many games.
And Rodgers was pleased by the character his players demonstrated.
"I thought this was an opportunity to show our mentality," he told Premier Sports. "All the noise has been about Dortmund, but I wanted a Champions League mentality here, and I thought the boys controlled the game.
"We wanted to keep our rhythm going. You see some of the guys coming in this evening, like Valle coming in at left-back, showing his composure.
"Most were looking at it as a tick-box before Dortmund, but for me, it was to show their mentality. Everyone will be flying on Tuesday night, but I want to see how they do when they’re here, or other grounds. It’s a case of just focusing in on that.
"I thought the variety of our game was very good; everything you'd want from your team."
Looking ahead to Tuesday's clash with Bundesliga giants Dortmund, he added: "[They] are a good team with top players, so we can't get away from that.
"OK, they've lost one or two [players] from last year, but I always say we make sure we press, make sure we attack. It's a tough game, but we'll look forward to it."
St Johnstone 0-6 Celtic: Defending champions continue perfect start
Celtic stormed to the top of the Scottish Premiership with a thumping 6-0 win away at St Johnstone.
The defending champions thought they had taken the lead early on through Daizen Maeda, but VAR intervened due to a foul in the build-up.
Nevertheless, a brace from Kyogo Furuhashi and Paulo Bernardo's sumptuous strike virtually ended the contest at half-time.
There was to be no mercy in the second half though, as captain Callum McGregor added a fourth for Celtic shortly after the restart.
Maeda and substitute Adam Idah added further gloss to the scoreline to make it six league wins out of six for Brendan Rodgers' side so far this campaign and take them top, ahead of Aberdeen on goal difference.
St Johnstone are now just a point above second bottom in the table.
Data Debrief: Defence first
Celtic have kept a clean sheet in each of their last six games in the league.
Their last longer run of games without conceding a goal in the competition was a run of seven games from 26 April 2015 to 9 August 2015, so as well as their rampant attack, Rodgers' team have a mean defence, with St Johnston accumulating only 0.29 expected goals (xG) on Saturday.
With two assists in this match, meanwhile, Nicolas Kuhn now has four in total for the season, which is two more than any other player in the Scottish Premiership.
Dundee United 0-1 Rangers: Gers close gap to Celtic with narrow win
Rangers got back to winning ways with a 1-0 victory away to Dundee United on Sunday, which saw them climb to third in the Scottish Premiership.
Philippe Clement's side are now five points behind second-placed Aberdeen and league leaders Celtic, who inflicted their first defeat of the season last time out.
The match itself was one of few chances, with forward Tom Lawrence scoring the winning goal after just seven minutes.
The goal capped a flowing, attacking move from Rangers that saw Lawrence get on the end of some one-touch passing before carrying the ball through the penalty area and beyond the goalkeeper.
Dundee United were unable to offer much in the way of a comeback, with five off-target shots the sum total of their threat throughout the match.
The match did see 10 yellow cards shown, with Dundee United's Emmanuel Adegboyega's booking for a forceful challenge reviewed by VAR towards the end of the first half. The on-field decision stood, though the defender was substituted at the break.
Data Debrief: Rangers end away day woes
Goalscorer Lawrence had five shots in the match, which is a season-high in the league for any Rangers player.
The visitors will be pleased to get three points, having won just one of their previous seven away games prior to this - their worst run since 2016.
It also means they close some of the gap to Old Firm rivals Celtic, who had opened an eight-point buffer following a 2-0 home win over Hearts on Saturday.
The hosts, meanwhile, failed to register a single effort on target for the first time in a league game since 8 May 2022. Their opponents on that day? Rangers.
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