McDiarmid Park clash gets the green light despite new lockdown

ST JOHNSTONE’S home game against Aberdeen on Saturday (KO 12.30pm) will go ahead despite the new lockdown measures put in place in the Granite City yesterday.

The Scottish Government has imposed fresh restrictions due to a coronavirus cluster in the Aberdeen with the public advised not to travel to the city while residents should travel no further than five miles unless for work or education purposes.

Despite the new measures, the Dons club staff and players, who are tested regularly, can still travel.

Meanwhile, new St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson insists he won’t be a slave to a formation.

The Perth boss spent pre-season getting his players up to speed with a 5-2-3 set-up that he had worked on at Millwall.

That was the system he went with against Dundee United in the Premiership opener last weekend but it doesn’t necessarily follow that it will be the system against the Dons.

This season Davidson will attempt to strike a balance between imposing his own team’s game plan on their opposition and adapting to the specific requirements of each fixture.

“We’re a team who will have to tweak it here and there depending who we’re playing against,” he explained.

“The amount of knowledge we have on the opposition might be a factor as well. But I do believe that we have to make sure we’re good at what we do to be successful this season.

“That means the defensive side and the attacking side. That’s been the case for the last few years.

He added: “We worked better as a team in the second half at Tannadice, which is something we want to build on.”