Easton tipping Ali to emulate ex-Accies aces
BRIAN EASTON watched close pals James McArthur and James McCarthy earn big money moves to England.
And the former Hamilton Accies defender was snapped up by Burnley for £300,000 seven years ago.
Scotland midfielder McArthur, now shining for Crystal Palace in the English Premier League, and Everton’s Republic of Ireland star McCarthy were both headhunted by Wigan in deals worth more than £2.5 million, with later sell-on fees ploughed back into the Accies youth development system.
Now at St Johnstone, the Perth full-back shares Accies manager Martin Canning’s surprise that no one has been knocking on his door inquiring about in-form midfielder Ali Crawford.
Canning has also been touting the six-goal 25-year-old playmaker for a Scotland call-up.
Easton, 28, is eager to bounce back from Thursday’s last-gasp Betfred League Cup defeat from Aberdeen and admits Crawford will have to be reined in when the teams clash today at New Douglas Park.
The Perth vice-captain said: “Ali was just a young boy when I was at Hamilton but I keep an eye on my old club and it’s always great to see youngsters coming through the ranks.
“I’m sure clubs are keeping tabs on him.
“Ali’s a dangerous player who picks up very good positions, and has good feet and vision. He is more than capable of scoring a few goals as well.
“Ali is a massive player for them. If we can manage to nullify him then that’ll be a big plus for us.”
Easton insists Tommy Wright’s players have their minds backs on league business after an agonising cup exit at Pittodrie.
And after posting victories and clean sheets against Partick Thistle and Hearts, Perth fans are already anticipating another top-six finish this season.
But while admitting that’s the target, Easton is eager to manage expectation levels.
“Teams are already talking about Celtic winning the league comfortably,” he said.
“But we see ourselves being in among the pack behind them and I don’t think there is a team in this league who like playing against us, either home or away.
“We put in a good performance to win away at Partick and then, against Hearts, the gaffer told the new boys that it’s sometimes the St Johnstone way to pick up points like that. It’s all about digging in and never knowing when you’re beat.
“As a former player, I know Hamilton will be disappointed with the derby loss to Motherwell last weekend. I watched the highlights and they had a lot of chances.
“There are definitely ways we can play to cause them problems, as we showed last season. With what we want to achieve here, we’ll be looking for a positive result.”