The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Kerr keen to nail down position at centre-half
Scotland under-21 international says midfield switch against Kilmarnock was temporary measure
Jason Kerr turned back the clock to play in midfield in St Johnstone’s Premiership opener a couple of weeks ago.
But the Scotland under-21 international does not believe it will be a long-term career option.
The switch proved to be a temporary one, with manager Tommy Wright deploying Kerr at the heart of his defence in the draw against Hibs a few days ago.
The man himself has not had a change of heart about where he would like to play on a regular basis.
“Sunday was my first game as a rightsided centre-half this season and I felt comfortable,” Kerr 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 because of my physical attributes.
“I took to it pretty quickly and it’s definitely worked out to be a good decision because I’ve progressed well since then.”
He added: “The Kilmarnock game was the first time I’ve played centre-mid 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.”
Kerr’s defensive conversion was made at McDiarmid Park but Queen of the South manager Gary Naysmith has played a big part in his development after Wright took the decision to loan him out, first to East Fife and subsequently Queens.
“He took me to East Fife and gave me my first games as first-team level,” said Kerr.
“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 top flight.”
He added: “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.”
The main threat to Saints’ hopes of progressing to the last eight of the Betfred Cup against Queens at Palmerston tomorrow is a former teammate of Kerr’s.
He said: “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.”
Kerr is one of three Saints players who have benefited from getting game-time in Dumfries. Chris Kane will not be fit for this game but Zander Clark will play.
“I’d probably say Zander was the most popular – I can’t say myself,” he said.
“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.
“It’s an important game. We’re taking it very seriously. There is a place in the quarter-finals at stake and we want to be there.”
The Perth side are on the right track after their draw with Hibs, according to Kerr.
He said: “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. Maybe we should have taken all three points but hopefully the one point that we got will set us up nicely for the rest of the season.
“It was a big improvement from the first game to the second game. It was a good point in the end.”
Twitter: @C_ENicolson