Wright keen on Rangers striker

Saints investigate bringing O’Halloran back to Perth

St Johnstone have registered an interest in bringing Michael O’Halloran back to McDiarmid Park.

The forward, who was bought by Mark Warburton in January 2016 for a fee understood to be near £500,000, was among five senior Rangers players left out of their 30-man Europa League squad today.

And his old Saints manager, Tommy Wright, admitted that O’Halloran’s return is one of the options he is exploring as he seeks to strengthen his own team. He told STV: “Michael is one player that we’ve inquired about but in that position there’s two or three other inquiries we’ve got in at the minute.”

St Johnstone’s Europa League opponents will arrive in Perth on the back of an emphatic cup win.

But Tommy Wright is confident that going from an 8-0 defeat of “very weak” Lithuanian lower league side Garliava to facing his own team at McDiarmid Park on Thursday night will be chalk and cheese for FK Trakai.

The Saints boss, who has confirmed they have registered an interest in bringing Michael O’Halloran back from Rangers, sent Alec Cleland to Vilnius to check out their Europa League first qualifying round opposition at the weekend, and Cleland certainly saw plenty of goals.

“The game they played last weekend was against very weak opposition but it was good for Alec to get an opinion on how they play and their key players,” said Wright.

“They are a team who like to pass the ball and their front two, Dorley and Maksimov, are their two best players.

“They have done very well this season and in their league they have been difficult to beat and to score against.

“Away from home they seem to be very strong defensively but it will be about how strong the opposition they’re playing is.

“I don’t think the strength of the Lithuanian league will be as strong as the SPFL.

“But it’s still going to be a tough game because they are a side who have become used to winning matches and they are strong.

“They will be very confident coming here, they have got the results behind them domestically for that, so we know it’s going to be a tough game.”

Saints boss Tommy Wright.