I’ll keep Saints glove affair going all season
Hladky won’t leave Buddies in lurch
IN-DEMAND Vaclav Hladky has made it clear he’s in no rush to Czech out of St Mirren.
The keeper is out of contract in the summer and has already been the subject of a failed £200,000 bid from American side Houston Dynamo.
The 29-year-old, whose heroics helped the Buddies take a point against St Johnstone on Saturday, has also been scouted by Rangers.
But although there is a lot of interest in him, Vaclav doesn’t expect to leave the battling Buddies when the January transfer window opens.
The keeper, who is more likely to move under freedom of contract in the summer, said: “I just want to help St Mirren as much as I can. I think I will stay until the end of the season.
“Every offer that comes is so good for me. It means I’m doing my job well and I’m happy for that.
“Everything else is being left to my agents. I’m concentrating only on my football. I’m focused on the matches because if you look at other things your performances go down.
“It is good when you hear things from outside but you have to focus on the football.”
Boss Jim Goodwin has admitted keeping Hladky would be worth more to the club than any money they would make from selling their No.1 over the next month.
The Buddies are on a three-match unbeaten run but are still embroiled in the relegation dogfight, just four points ahead of rock-bottom Hearts.
Hladky showed his worth at McDiarmid Park with the two fine saves to deny Michael O’Halloran then sub David Wotherspoon in the second half.
Talking about the one-on-one with O’Halloran, he said: “It was a good counter attack but I tried to close in on him and made myself as big as I could. He hit me so I was lucky.”
St Johnstone may have had the best two chances but the Buddies arguably had a lot more of the play.
Junior Morias and Sam Foley both tested Zander Clark from distance and Ilkay Durmus just overhit a freekick that Sean McLoughlin could only guide into the side-netting. Hladky said: “It was a good point because it was a hard game and the pitch was also so soft. We wanted to win but a draw was good.
“Every point is so important. It is good to take something from any away game. We just want to try to win every game. We had a good bit of play but had to settle for a point.”
A makeshift St Mirren defence had Paul McGinn at centre-half and Ryan Flynn at right-back.
They managed to shut out St Johnstone but know it will be a far more difficult proposition when Celtic come calling on Boxing Day.
Hladky admitted: “You are busy all the time when you play Celtic. It will be a good opportunity for us.
“There is pressure in these games but we will just try to be better than the last time we played them.
“It will be a good atmosphere and it is also Boxing Day. I love these games when you are busy.
“We go into the game in good form and when you get a bit of momentum it’s good.”
St Mirren are looking up rather than down but Hladky has a vested interest in what is going below them as he is a friend of Hearts keeper Zdenek Zlamal, a fellow Czech.
The Jambos are at the bottom of the pile and Hladky said: “I speak to Zdenek almost every week. We have spoken about the situation and it is very difficult for them.
“Hearts are a big club – it is only a matter of time before they start to pick up. Now it is a busy period and there are a lot of games.
“It is better to see how things are in March and around the spring. Maybe it might be an advantage for us but it is tough to say just now.”