The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
May chasing goals on Pittodrie return
SAINTS: Perth attacker keen to get off mark – but three points will be main aim
Stevie May admits he would like nothing better than to score on his return to Pittodrie tomorrow but his main aim is simply helping St Johnstone secure their first three points of the Premiership season.
The striker left Aberdeen at the end of last month to begin what is his second spell at McDiarmid, five years after initially leaving to join Sheffield Wednesday.
The Scottish Cup-winning hero admits he is now just looking to get a run of games for Tommy Wright’s side – and there will certainly be no room for sentiment when he returns north to the Granite City this afternoon.
May said: “There might be a little bit more pressure on me than if it was another team.”
May continued: “It’s always going to be like that when you return to teams you’ve played for.
“The move has just happened so there is pressure but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I just need to take it all in my stride and we need to try put in a good performance as a team, then see how far it takes us.
“Obviously I didn’t play many minutes during preseason so I’m just looking forward to getting back to playing football again.
“It’s been stop-start for me. It’s always good to start well and I’ll be looking to do that.
“It’s great to get back into the swing of playing every week on a Saturday. That is something you look forward to.
“Getting a couple of goals would be ideal for me. But I’d take no goals and three points right now if that was the option.”
Saints have a decent record at Pittodrie in recent years, winning 2-0 the last time the sides met at the venue and May is looking for more of the same tomorrow.
He added: “It will be a tough game, it’s a hard place to go, but one where St Johnstone have had good results over a number of years.
“There is definitely potential to pick up points but it’s not easy with the way Aberdeen set up. They have a lot of quality.
“They are probably in a gelling period, having put in a lot of good performances. They’ve had a few they’ll be disappointed with as well.
“With a good result last week, Aberdeen will be looking to build on that. It’s up to us to stop that and put in a performance ourselves.
“We’ll go up there and have a real go.”
St Johnstone have used the international break to good effect with May and other new arrivals such as on-loan Rangers midfielder Jason Holt honing their sharpness.
May said: “It’s good to get a full training week in ahead of the game, which is only going to benefit me and others.
“Drey Wright is coming back and Jason Holt is getting back involved, another one who hasn’t played as many games as he would’ve liked.
“Jason is a good lad and I’ve played with him before at Scotland under21 level. I know he’ll bring a lot to the team.
“He is assured on the ball, but is also a really hard-working player which is only going to benefit the team. He’ll fit into the dressing-room perfectly.”
May has also been welcomed with open arms by the St Johnstone support, receiving a rousing reception when he came on as a sub against Kilmarnock two weeks ago.
He added: “I knew I was going to get a good reaction from the fans.
“I’ve said before that, even when I’ve not been with the club, I’ve always had a good connection with the fans.
“The result wasn’t a great one to come back into against Kilmarnock but I thought there were still a lot of positives to take from the game.”