Rewards on pitch enough for Paton

Midfielder took big pay cut to make move to McDiarmid Park

Paul Paton admits he took a big pay cut to come to St Johnstone – however he is reaping the rewards in footballing terms.

The 29-year-old suffered the pain of relegation with Dundee United last season but still had a year left on his contract with the club.

He was determined to continue playing in the Premiership, though, and with United unable to afford his salary, he moved to Saints even though it meant less money in his wage packet.

However, things are certainly paying off in Perth for the midfielder who capped a man-ofthe-match performance in the comfortable 2-0 victory over Dundee on Saturday with his first goal for St Johnstone courtesy of a 12th-minute header.

He said: “It is my first for the club and I’ll remember that for a while. I don’t think I have scored with a header since Motherwell away a long time ago (November 2013), maybe in my first season with United. It’s been a long time coming.

“We were at it right from the off. We owed it to the fans because we have been really poor here in a lot of games this season.”

“There was a different feel about it,” added Paton.

The atmosphere felt a lot better and Dundee brought a lot of fans through. That made for a better game.

“Obviously I got relegated against Dundee when I was with United, so it was good to score against them.

“Their fans were giving Danny Swanson more stick than me, and rightly so! I’m happy for him to take the stick and for me to go unnoticed.

“Relegation with United has gone now.

“I made a big decision to come here in the summer. I think everyone knows I had a contract there and I took a big wage cut to come here. That shows I wanted to come here and play in the SPL.

“It’s good to get off the mark, but I don’t mind who scores the goals as long as we get the points.”

Picture: SNS. Paul Paton celebrates his goal against Dundee.