Delight for Doig after record time
Saints midfielder Stefan Scougall battles with East Fife’s Aaron Dunsmore St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright insists performance levels will improve following Saturday’s Betfred Cup draw with East Fife.
The Perth men were held to a stalemate at McDiarmid Park in what was the club’s first competitive fixture of the new campaign.
Wright took positives away from the match and said:“I have watched the game back and was happy with how we tried to play.
“But obviously I’m still disappointed that we didn’t take our chances.
“East Fife packed the middle of the pitch and even though we managed to overload the wide areas we didn’t capitalise on the openings we made.
“The lack of a killer cross or killer pass hurt us in the end.
“We will improve from here, there were plenty of positives to take.
“Drey Wright looked very good and you could see that Tony Watt is a quality player from the 30 minutes or so he played.
“There is a lot of work still to do to get to where we want to be, but Saturday’s game will be another step in the right direction.”
Striker Chris Kane, who came on as a second-half substitute, has been nursing a knock following the weekend game.
Providing an injury update, Wright also confirmed that Brian Easton is continuing his recovery from groin surgery last term.
“Brian should see a consultant this week,” Wright said.
“It has settled down quite a bit, so things are looking slightly more positive. The issue is that we can’t get him to a level of work we need to get him to.
“Most people are back in six weeks but he’s nine or ten weeks on from the last operation, so it has been a concern.
“It’s looking a bit more positive but we will have to wait and see what the specialist says.
“Joe Shaughnessy could be back in a week’s time, while Greg Hurst will be back next week after taking a kick in the Aberdeen game.
“Chris Kane took a knock on his Perth Grammar School student Matthew Doig is on top of the world.
The 12-year-old was confirmed as the planet’s quickest racerunner at under-14 level for the 1500m distance at the weekend.
Matthew set the time while competing in the International Racerunners Cup in Copenhagen, Denmark.
FULL STORY PAGE 37 Wright watches on during the stalemate with East Fife
achilles against East Fife so we will have to monitor him.”
Wright is still hoping to add new faces to his squad and said:“I have identified the players we want to bring in, we are still working on things.
“We need to fill a couple of key positions and it’s with the club at the moment.
“I’ve no doubt that we will get players in.”