Free week a big boost for Saints

ST JOHNSTONE have no game this weekend due to their opponents Celtic being i nvolved i n the League Cup Final.

If t hey had a match, defender Joe Shaughnessy would not have played due to the concussion he received in the home loss against Ross County.

However, the extra week to recover will mean he will be i n the squad to face Inverness Caley Thistle at home a week on Saturday.

Midfielder Murray Davidson will also be in the squad having recovered from his ankle injury.

Keeper Zander Clark, taken off against Ross County with a back knock, is fit again.

However, the ICT game will come too soon for Chris Millar, who is making his way back from a hamstring tear.

The postponement of last night’s away Development League match against Dundee United meant Keith Watson was denied another game in his comeback from injury.

The former Dundee United defender has been beset by knocks since coming to Saints i n the summer from St Mirren but is working his way back to fitness.

Saints manager Tommy Wright again expressed his disappointment at the m a n n e r o f h i s s i d e ’s defending against Ross County.

“Nobody likes losing but it’s the manner of how we lost that is hard to take. It was a self-inflicted defeat,” he said.

“Recently, mistakes have crept in and we have been punished.

“Our home form has to improve as we have been beaten at McDiarmid in the last few weeks by County, Kilmarnock and Partick.

“We started the season by being tight at the back and must get back to that type of form.”

Defender Joe Shaughnessy is one of three injured players who will be fit again for St Johnstone.