Wright plans to make sure St Johnstone don’t forget about Drey
Winger aims to be fighting fit for visit to old employers
DREY WRIGHT is confident he will be fit for Hibs’ trip to face old club St Johnstone this weekend. The summer signing started the opening-day clash with Kilmarnock but has been sidelined since that 2-1 victory because of a thigh strain.
The 25-year-old admits being unable to “hit the ground running” at Easter Road has been frustrating as his new team have taken 10 points from a possible 12 to sit joint top of the Premiership with Rangers.
But the former Colchester United attacker confesses he is desperate to prove his fitness for Sunday’s clash in Perth.
He said: “I picked up a little thigh strain and had it scanned just after the Kilmarnock game, on the Tuesday.
“It was only going to be a couple of weeks out, so I missed two weeks of training, which is frustrating coming into a new club.
“You want to hit the ground running, so it’s been frustrating in that respect to have been a bit stop-start.
“But I felt I needed to come off it, because I had been feeling it for a while and I wasn’t doing myself or the team any favours.
“But I’m looking to get back into training this week to get ready for Sunday’s game.
“Hopefully I’ll be ready, that’s the plan. It’s not a game I want to miss out on. I’ve been working hard with the physios and ticking every box they’re throwing at me at the minute.
“So, the plan is to get training and be ready for the game.”
Wright’s two years at McDiarmid Park were seriously hampered by cruciate knee ligament damage that kept him out of action for over nine months.
But he still made a big enough impression that then manager Tommy Wright praised him as one of the most gifted players he had worked with.
With Callum Davidson having taken over at Saints this summer, Wright is predicting a tough encounter with his former employers, but he is convinced it is one Hibs can win.
He added: “For them, I think it’s kind of a case of ‘if it’s not broken don’t fix it’. St Johnstone have had that success in recent years and especially in Tommy’s spell.
“Callum said when he came into the job he wasn’t going to change too much, just put his own little stamp on things.
“A change of shape is the main one I’ve noticed. They’ve gone with a 5-2-3 kind of formation, which worked well for them at the weekend as they picked up a precious three points [with a 2-1 win away to Kilmarnock].
“So, they’ll be happy and coming into the game with confidence, I would imagine.
“I think it will be a good game. We played them in a pre-season friendly and it was a 0-0 draw, but you could see both sides were going to go about things the right way.
“It’s a game I’m obviously looking forward to, going back up there. I’ve still got a lot of friends up there.
“It will be a good game but one we’ll definitely be going there to win.”