Simo Valakari admits that St Johnstone are in a ‘catastrophic’ situation after falling to yet another defeat to Rangers at Ibrox, and says he is looking forward to the Scottish Cup tie against Motherwell next week to forget about the ‘misery’ of their league situation.

The Premiership’s bottom side shot themselves in the foot time and time again as Rangers slammed three first half goals past debutant keeper Andrew Fisher, but they put on a more spirited second half showing to at least escape Glasgow with their pride intact.

And Valakari is hoping that some respite from league duty next week when they host Motherwell at McDiarmid Park can not only relieve the pressure on the shoulders of his players, but act as a springboard to propel themselves off the foot of the table.

“I’m lost for words because if we make these kinds of stupid football accidents on the field then quality like Rangers will punish you,” Valakari said.

“It’s impossible to win matches in any league – especially this one – when you make these mistakes.

“It’s not hard to explain, it’s many things. You look at our situation and where we are, it feels like every mistake we make gets punished.

“When you are a little bit stuck in your head, you start making poor decisions and your execution is not as good. It’s like a snowball effect.

“I want to move very quickly from here. You can call me crazy, but I know this club and this team, and I can feel it. It’s starting to turn. There is no better time than the cup this week.

“For seven days we don’t need to think about the catastrophic position in the league. Now it’s the cup and it doesn’t matter how badly we have played in the league or what has happened.

“It’s the Scottish Cup and we have exactly the same possibility to win as Rangers or anyone else has.

“That’s why it’s a beautiful week. We can be light, we don’t have to think about this misery we have in the league. After the cup we can get back to fixing this.

“I say it to the fans as well. Yes, it’s a difficult situation and everyone is frustrated. But we have the same chance as everyone in the cup so don’t walk into tomorrow feeling miserable and sad.

“If we start feeling negative now, it doesn’t help us. It’s a difficult situation and everyone is frustrated but in this cup week we have the same chance as everyone.

“Nobody can walk into the ground miserable and sad. The pressure of the league situation isn’t on us.

“Yes, it is good timing for the cup but we still need to work at our football – whether it’s league or cup we can’t make the same mistakes.”