THERE’S LIFE AFTER MATTY McCann’s delighted with win as winger joins Dons
Rising star Ali McCann reckons St Johnstone proved there can be a bright future after Matty Kennedy.
The winger had been a key performer for Saints this season and initially signed a pre-contract deal with Premiership rivals Aberdeen.
But on Friday evening that move was switched into an immediate transfer and he turned out for the Dons against St Mirren on Sunday.
Saints, however, coped just fine the day prior and managed to secure a massive three points in a 2-1 home victory over Kilmarnock.
McCann, who was on the scoresheet, said: “We don’t really think about it because we have plenty of quality throughout the squad that can fill in for Matty.
“We showed that on Saturday. We have plenty of creativity and goals in the team to cope without him. We have plenty of quality out wide.
“We need to chip in with more goals from midfield, which will help us to keep climbing the table. We can’t just rely on strikers to bang in 15 or 20 goals a season.”
McCann’s early finish from a perfectly timed run and delicious Scott Tanser cross was his second of the season, having netted against Hamilton on Boxing Day.
The 20-year-old is not one to be setting any targets on the goal front and instead just wants to continue an impressive debut season.
Saints, who sit eighth in the Premiership but level on points with Kilmarnock, face a tough task tomorrow evening when Celtic visit McDiarmid.
T h e Glasgow giants put the Perth side to the sword on the opening day of the campaign, knocking home seven without reply.
Speaking in the build-up to the Celtic clash, McCann told the PA: “I don’t think about goal targets.
“I’m not really renowned for my goal-scoring, so I’m just happy every time I get another one.
“It was a massive three points and some results elsewhere went our way. But we can’t stop working and need to pick up more points to keep on climbing.
“We’ve only lost last seven games once in the and we were disappointed with the defeat on Wednesday at Livingston. I don’t think we deserved to lose the game. But we went out on Saturday to put i t right. We’ve now got a decent points total from the last few games.”
Saints are expected to welcome new faces before the January transfer window closes and have been pressing to get a deal done for Inverness defender Jamie McCart, who has already agreed a pre-contract.
McCann believes fresh faces coming into the squad always provides a boost in terms of competition for places.
“It’s always good to get new faces in and lifts the place,” McCann explained. “But as players we don’t get involved with that side of things. We just keep doing what we’re doing.”
Speaking after the 2-1 win against Kilmarnock on Saturday, Tommy Wright said: “I was pleased with the effort and the commitment of the players. And the quality was there at times.
“It was particularly important to go into the Celtic game with a win under our belts.”