There’s no need for a fire sale at Mcdiarmid Park
Murray Davidson is confident St Johnstone’s Euro exit will not be quickly followed by a fire sale of the team’s best players.
The Perth side, who meet St Mirren today in an all-saints encounter in Paisley, went down 2-0 at home to LASK on Thursday night.
The defeat ended their hopes of reaching the group stages of the new Europa Conference League, an achievement that would have earned the club £3 million.
Yet, despite the failure to land the financial prize, the midfielder, who has spent the last dozen years at Mcdiarmid Park, sees no great cause for concern ahead of Tuesday’s transfer deadline.
“I don’t think we are a club who are desperate for money or anything like that,” said Davidson. “The club has always been run the right way.
Obviously, these are difficult times we are in but it will be a decision for the chairman.
“We probably have five or six players others teams are looking at. I am talking about the likes of Ali Mccann, Jason Kerr, Jamie Mccart, Shane Rooney and Zander Clark.
“But my understanding is we won’t sell unless the club get a valuation they’re happy with.
“That would mean decent bids coming in to us because they are all decent players. I train with them all every day so I can assure you of that.
“From a selfish point of view I hope we can keep them all with us. It is football and we know players sometimes get sold – that is the business we’re in, we have lost a lot over the years.
“As players, it is outwith our control. But, as I say, we know this club is run the right way.”
Ali Mccann is arguably the most sought-after of the Saints players with the Northern Ireland internationalist linked with a £3m switch to Preston North End.
“Ali has been brilliant the last year-and-a-half,” said Davidson, who plays alongside the 21-year-old in Saints midfield.
“I said after the Galatasaray game that if anyone is looking at him he’s not done himself any harm.
“His performances against top teams at a top level have been fantastic. But it’s no surprise to us because we see him every day.”
Davidson, meanwhile, says he is grateful for the opportunity today’s game against St Mirren will give him and his team-mates
“We were gutted after the final whistle because the aim was to get to the group stages and, as much as we were in the games, we have not done that,” said the Scot.
“Losing games is always hard, especially big ones, so it hurts. But it’s got to hurt.
“There is no time to feel sorry for ourselves because the St Mirren game is coming round so quickly. We’ll be back up for that again because we want to try to get ourselves going in the league.
“We’ve had a hectic schedule but we’ve a good squad, so we’ve got enough to cope with it.”