Cut out the mistakes and Saints will be fine, says Perth captain Jason Kerr. See page 53

St Johnstone captain Jason Kerr is confident they can have a good season despite a disappointing start on and off the park.

Saints crashed out of the Betfred Cup early after defeats to Montrose, Ross County and Forfar.

And Tommy Wright’s hopes of re-signing Scottish Cup winner Stevie May were dashed at the last minute when a deal to take him from Aberdeen fell through.

Kerr, whose side open their Ladbrokes Premiership campaign against champions Celtic, said: “It’s not been a good start for us but all the players and manager know we have a good group of players.

“We have not been playing too badly and if we cut our mistakes at the back and take our chances, it will be a good season for us.

“The manager has lowered the age of the squad so there are going to be a few mistakes to come with that. The manager says if we reduce the amount of mistakes it will be a good season for us.

“And we need to defend better because any good St Johnstone team in the past have always been good at defending and we haven’t been doing that as much recently.”

Wright had pinpointed a prolific striker as his summer priority and he is still looking after the failure to secure a deal for a man who netted 27 goals in his final season in Perth.

“Everybody was disappointed including Stevie May and us and the fans,” Kerr said.

“I don’t really know what happened with that. We thought it was a done deal because he was in during the day, we all saw him, heard the medical was done.

“It was disappointing but the manager will look around for another striker because I think we do need a few more signings.”

Saints, meanwhile, have signed their second goalkeeper of the summer after handing former Sunderland youngster Max Johnstone a 12-month deal.

Boss Wright has already brought in ex-Dundee stopper Elliot Parish to challenge number one Zander Clark.

Now 20-year-old Johnstone has been added to that battle after making his move to Perth.

He has already spent time training with the Saints squad during their pre-season trip to Northern Ireland and will now take the slot previously held by Ross Sinclair, who has joined Brechin City on a season-longloan.

Johnstone spent last season with Sunderland playing in their Under-23 squad and he also lists Manchester United among his former clubs.

Saints captain Jason Kerr.