The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
O’Halloran injury fears played down
Wright confirms on-loan star has chance of facing Hamilton
Tommy Wright has allayed the fears of St Johnstone fans that star man Michael O’Halloran has a serious ankle injury.
Earlier this week the on-loan Rangers man was pictured on social media with a protective boot on the foot he injured in the defeat at Dens Park last weekend.
But Wright insisted that was merely a precaution and his top scorer still has a chance of playing against Hamilton Accies tomorrow.
“We will assess Michael and give him every opportunity and he is hopeful that he will be able to make it,” said the Perth boss.
“He will do some light work today with the physio and then see if he can step up to train fully on Friday.
“Just because he was in a moon boot doesn’t mean that it is a serious injury. It is precaution and good practice.
“He has done well since he came back in and we want him fit because he’s an important player for us.
“We were disappointed he picked up the injury last week and had to come off.
“We felt he probably didn’t get enough protection but that was last week’s game and we’ll deal with the situation this Saturday, whether Michael is fit or not.
“If he’s fit, he will play. Even if he’s 90% fit and wants to play, he will. But he still has some work to do to make sure he is available.”
Blair Alston will miss out again but Murray Davidson is back in Wright’s squad.
Wright reported: “Murray will be fully fit.
“He just wasn’t physically strong enough last week. He had a virus which was quite bad.
“Denny (Johnstone) took a wee knock on his hip against Dundee so we will assess him. He should be OK.”
Meanwhile, Wright is still waiting to hear the extent of on-loan defender Keith Watson’s knee injury.
Hartlepool have sent the former Dundee United man for a second scan after the first one proved inconclusive.
“It was really disappointing news for Keith,” said Wright. “I spoke to Craig Harrison at Hartlepool and he has been delighted with him.
“He is just such an unlucky player. The situation is that we are waiting for the consultant’s report to see if he needs an operation.
“As I explained to Keith at the end of last season when we made him available, if he hadn’t got injured young Aaron (Comrie) probably would have gone out on loan.
“Keith is a quality player but unfortunately seems to pick up, not just niggling injuries, but bad ones. This looks pretty bad but hopefully the consultant’s report brings better news.”
Wright has a good idea of what to expect from Accies tomorrow, but that doesn’t make it any easier to beat them.
“Every game you need to be prepared for the battle,” he said. “You know if there is one team who will be up for the battle, then it will be Hamilton.
“They work extremely hard for each other and they have quality. They have had a great start and are scoring a lot of goals.
“They were down as everyone’s whipping boys and the experts had them to be struggling again. That hasn’t materialised.
“Martin (Canning) has, similar to us, been able to hold onto the majority of his players and his squad does not change much.
“They have players who know how to win football matches and who now have bags of experience in this league.
“It will be difficult and we know that. It’s a game where you must dominate the battle and win first and second balls.”
Wright added: “The clubs are similar size and probably have similar resources. You can’t go out buying players and spending money. You need to get the best out of what you have got.
“Martin does that extremely well. He has worked under pressure because they have been down at the bottom before and got away from it.
“They are a team who I always feel if they need a result, then they will get a result. They have a great spirit and have quality as well.”
Saints defender Richard Foster has been issued with a notice of complaint by the SFA compliance officer.
The action has been taken as a result of an alleged incident at the conclusion of Saturday’s game against Dundee, breaching disciplinary rule 202 (excessive misconduct) of the SFA’s disciplinary rules.
A hearing date of October 5 has been set.
Foster, who was enraged at the decision to award Dundee a penalty, was reported to have kicked referee Alan Muir’s door after the match.