Young Saint Ali has seized his big chance to help kickstart the Perth men’s campaign

Involved in all 11 league games so far, midfielder is growing in confidence

When quizzed about how it feels to be one of the first names on the St Johnstone team-sheet, Ali McCann cracks a contented smile.

He has just wandered down from the home dressing room at McDiarmid Park after a controlled and dominant performance against Heart of Midlothian.

There is a shyness and politeness about how the 19-yearold conducts himself, but deep down a realisation that he is living the footballing dream. An interview from his younger years with the club revealed that ‘to play first-team football regularly’ was his main ambition in the game.

He also started that his favourite television programme was popular tea-time quiz show The Chase, but that has little relevance to this tale.

For McCann, who has featured in all 11 of Saints’ league matches this season, starting nine, the quest is on to add further prestige to his promising career.

His transition into senior football has been stunningly smooth with performances earning plaudits from an evergrowing number of admirers.

It’s all a tad surreal for the Edinburgh-born midfielder. But he remains unfazed and beneath the quiet persona sits a determined young man who wants the best for himself and Tommy Wright’s team.

“I didn’t expect so many first team appearances already, to be fair,” McCann explained.

“I just thought that if the manager puts me in, I’ll do as well as I can. Luckily for me the chances keep coming and hopefully that continues.

“The manager supports me all the time and that helps me. It means I can keep my head down and keep working hard.

“The more games you play, you get used to players around you and grow in confidence. As the games pass you get more and more confident.

“If you do the basics right you can grow in confidence and then try to express yourself a bit more.

“But I don’t think you can afford to think your place is secure every week. You don’t want to take your eye off the ball.”

McCann’s footballing journey started at Hutchison Vale, a club renowned for producing talented youth players and where he won a Scottish Cup title.

He was lured to Perth by head of St Johnstone’s youth academy Alistair Stevenson and starred for various age groups before getting his big break.

His journey to this point included a productive loan spell with Stranraer last season. That was an experience which certainly helped toughen him up.

Before that, he had already made his first-team debut with Saints and came off the bench in a Scottish Cup win against Albion Rovers in January 2018.

Through all of this McCann has been indebted to the support of his family. Two of his siblings also possess an array of talent in the sporting world.

Younger brother Lewis is currently signed with Dunfermline and is a fellow member of the Northern Ireland