TEAM BOOST FOR SAINTS Squad strengthened ahead of clash with Accies
No call-up for Kerr St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright will be boosted by the return of Chris Kane and David Wotherspoon this weekend.
And the Perth manager could also throw new Ipswich loan signing Tristan Nydam into the action against Hamilton.
Wright has an abundance of respect for Martin Canning’s men but only has eyes on picking up another three points at the Superseal Stadium.
“We’re looking to build on a good performance and result at the weekend,” he said. “We’ll be set a totally different set of problems.
“I watched Hamilton on Sunday and they will feel very unlucky. They were organised and had a really good shape about them.
“We always know it’s tough down there.
“A lot has been said about artificial pitches, but if anything this looks like it’s going to be in good nick.
“Hamilton work extremely hard and have players who have quality throughout the team.
“I admire what they do every year. They have limited resources and still defy the pundits by staying in the league and causing teams problems.
“Tristan has settled in well and trained really well on Wednesday. He will go into the squad for Saturday.
“David Wotherspoon has returned to full training and Chris Kane got another 60 minutes for the reserves. They will return to the squad.
“We’re still waiting for the consultant down in England for Brian Easton. It will be next week before he gets to see him.
“Murray Davidson was getting his operation on Thursday morning.
“When we get the details of what gets done, we’ll have a better guideline in terms of time of recovery.”
On the international front, Wright expressed surprise that Jason Kerr had been snubbed by Scotland’s Under-21 squad.
The McDiarmid Park centre-back was not named on the initial squad list earlier this month ahead of upcoming European qualifiers.
When defender John Souttar was this week fast-tracked to the senior set-up, a gap was left to be plugged in the heart of the U21 backline.
But Kerr, who played in the competition earlier this year and then impressed at the Toulon Tournament, has still received no further call-up.
Former Rangers defender David Bates, now with Hamburg, has been
for the full game.
“That is one of the parts of my game I have focused on most.
“It’s something that every young goalkeeper coming up needs to recognise, because it’s a massive part of the game.”
Clark added:“Hamilton is a place where we have done well. Going by their game with Celtic, they seemed as if they were well organised.
“We know that we’ll need to be at our best because it’s never an easy place to go.
“We’ll need to move the ball quickly and try exploit them in areas of the pitch.”
The towering stopper has been in solid form this season but admits he is only focused on impressing at club level.
Alex McLeish named his latest Scotland squad this week with goalkeepers Craig Gordon, Allan McGregor and Jordan Archer getting the nod.
Clark (26) said:“It’s never something I think about and my main focus is to be playing as many games as I can.
“If I perform well and it gets recognition, then that is great. But it’s never a target that I would set myself.
“It’s been the first season where it’s not been myself and Alan Mannus. But there is always competition for a goalkeeping place.
“I’ve been feeling good and had a good pre-season. The Betfred Cup helped to get into the competitive games early.
“You need to make sure you are able to make the saves when called upon. If you don’t, you know you could find yourself out of the team.” Eve Muirhead