Young Saints defender undaunted at having to face Celtic once more

JASON Kerr is again set to be at the heart of the St Johnstone defence when they take on Celtic away in the Scottish Cup on Sunday.

He was 22 on Wednesday but didn’t have the best of birthdays as Hamilton defeated the Perth men 2-1 in the league.

It was Saints’ fourth loss in a row, coming on the back of two 2-0 league reversals against Celtic and a 2-0 l eague l oss against Hearts.

However, Kerr remains undaunted at the prospect of playing Celtic again for the third time in 11 days.

As the game approaches, he said: “These are the type of games every player wants to play in and I am no different.

“Now the Hamilton match is over our focus is on Celtic and, hopefully, we can make it third time lucky against them.”

Kerr concedes t hat Saints can’t make the errors against Celtic that enabled Hamilton to beat them.

He added: “It was a catalogue of errors as we lost two sloppy goals.”

Kerr’s performances are earning rave reviews and attracting i nterest from other clubs.

Burnley are the latest to have had a look at him.

However, he has j ust signed a two-year extension to his Saints deal and he is keen to get some longevity at the Perth club.

“Steven Anderson has played over 400 games for Saints and Liam Craig and Murray Davidson have over 300,” he added.

“They are good examples to me, as is the manager. Hopefully, I can have careers as long as they have.”

The Tele recently revealed Saints are thought to be keen on Livingston defender Declan Gallagher. Now Motherwell are also said to be showing an interest.

Kerr has no fear of taking on Celtic this weekend.