NO OLD PALS ACT FOR KERR
Saints defender relishing his return to Palmerston
St Johnstone’s Jason Kerr St Johnstone defender Jason Kerr has great respect for Queen of the South manager Gary Naysmith.
But the McDiarmid Park centreback hopes to be the one celebrating a Betfred Cup last 16 victory in Dumfries this weekend.
Kerr played under Naysmith on loan at East Fife before again linking-up with the former Scotland international at Palmerston.
Saints make the trip south on Saturday with a strong determination to book a quarter final ticket.
“He [Gary Naysmith] took me to East Fife and gave me my first games at first team level,” Kerr said.
“Then he took me to Queen of the South after that so he’s played a big part in my career so far.
“My two spells at East Fife were good but they didn’t make me ready for the Premiership with St Johnstone.
“It was after playing in the Championship with Queen of the South that I felt I was ready to make the next step and play in the Premiership.
“He was a player-manager in my first year at East Fife so it was really good to have him beside me on the pitch. “He could talk you through the game. “As a manager, he’s quite calm. He’s very good with the young boys. He’s a former Scotland international so he obviously knows his football.
“To have an ex-defender of his quality talk to you after training to help you get better was great for me.”
Kerr, goalkeeper Zander Clark and striker Chris Kane - the latter recovering from injury - have picked up loan experience with Queen of the South.
The 21-year-old is relishing his return and also the challenge of coming up against former Saint Stephen Dobbie.
Kerr said: “I’d probably say Zander was the most popular – I can’t say myself! He’ll probably get the warmest welcome.
“All three of us did well there and it will be good to go back and see some familiar faces.
“The fans were great with us and hopefully we’ll all get a warm welcome.
“They’ve got some good players. Stephen Dobbie is the obvious one – it will be a hard task keeping him quiet.
“I’ve played against him in training plenty of times but this will be the first time in a proper match.
“He’s unpredictable in the way he plays.
“He’s a very good striker and probably shouldn’t be playing in the Championship.
“I think because he lives down south he’s got to the age that he’s happy to be where he is and enjoying his football.
“It’s an important game. We’re taking it very seriously. There is a place in the quarterfinals at stake and we want to be there.”
Reflecting on Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Hibernian, Kerr added: “It’s good to get a point on the board in the league.
“We should have done a lot better at Kilmarnock, we knew that. We didn’t put them under any pressure or play any football, really.
“But against a good Hibs team we started well and were on top for a lot of the game.”
Kerr sees himself playing centre-back moving forward despite a brief cameo in the centre of midfield on opening day against Kilmarnock.
“Sunday was my first game as a right-sided centre-half this season and I felt comfortable,” he said.
“I was first brought to St Johnstone as a midfielder. Up until under-20s that was my position.
“Alistair Stevenson or Alex Cleland decided that I would be better off dropping back to centre-half.
“I took to it pretty quickly and it’s definitely worked out to be a good decision because I’ve progressed well since then.
“The Kilmarnock game was the first time I’ve played centremid for a wee while, and it was at Premiership level.
“But I do feel comfortable on the ball and if asked to play there I believe I can do a job there. But centre-half is where I see myself playing.”