ST JOHNSTONE LATEST Make me a Saint for life
MacLean wants to finish career in Perth after sealing record
MacLean is club’s record scorer in Premiership Steven MacLean has revealed he wants to finish his football career at St Johnstone.
The Perth striker created history by netting for the 40th time in the top flight in the 1-1 draw with Celtic before the international break.
That goal nudged MacLean ahead of Paul Wright to become the club’s record Premiership scorer.
But the 35-year-old insists that stat will in no way mean downing tools and he is prepared to chip in with plenty more goals this season.
“I didn’t know I would be here this long when I first joined,” MacLean said. “I’m 35 now and I feel like I have a lot more football left in me. I would be happy to stay here as long as I can.
“I didn’t really think about the record but to get 40 top-flight goals is pretty good. I would obviously have liked a few more over the years.
“I just try to go out and score as many goals as I can — and hopefully there are plenty more to come.
“It’s nice to have the record but it isn’t something which motivates me going forward. I just want to do well for the club.
“As long as we keep improving I can’t see the good times stopping. It’s getting harder each year and you have teams like Hibs back, who have a big budget in the league.
“It will be difficult to get into the top six again but hopefully we can keep doing well. We’ve had a good start but it’s early days and a long season. We need to keep our form going as long as we can.”
There will be a familiar face in the visiting Hibernian party this weekend as former Saint Danny Swanson makes a first return to Perth since signing for the Easter Road side.
MacLean said: “It will be really nice to see Danny — but hopefully he is on the bench! Everybody at the club knows he has quality and we’ll be wanting him to have a quiet day if he does play.
“Hibs are a good side and Neil Lennon has spent a lot of money. They obviously took Danny from us and sometimes he isn’t even a guaranteed starter. You can see the quality they have got.
“If we finish above Hibs, we’ll be doing well. I think if we finish above Hibs, we’ll certainly be in the top six, possibly top four.
“We’ll be looking to impose ourselves on the game and will be
looking to get the three points from the game.”
Hibs are expected to bring a bumper crowd to McDiarmid Park this wekeend and MacLean is hoping a few more Perth fans can pitch up for the game.
He said: “It’s a game we are looking forward to and I think they will bring a big crowd down, which is good.
“We all want to play in front of big crowds. But it is hard. We don’t get the biggest of crowds but we need to be thankful for the ones who do come along to the games.
“It seems to be the same ones who come every week and we are very grateful for that.
“It would be nice to have a few more, but we are grateful for those who do support us.” MacLean scores against Celtic