Saints braced for third Ibrox bid for O’Halloran

Having been left out against Hamilton the previous weekend, O’Halloran proved the continued speculation had not caused any lingering impact on his mentality. ‘Since the stories have come out and the bids have been made, Mick has been fantastic in training,’ insisted Saints defender Tam Scobbie. ‘He’s been taking a bit of stick but he takes it well. ‘We know that when Mick plays, he’ll create chances. He picked out Macca with a fantastic ball and caused them problems all day with his pace. He showed why he’s in high demand. ‘Hopefully, he’ll be here to help take us into the Final. He’s invaluable to us. ‘The club have got to put a value on him from a financial point of view. That’s their decision. ‘It’s up to the clubs and the gaffer to sort that out. ‘But for us, as players, he’s had some performances that have been extraordinary. ‘If we can keep a hold of him for the semi-final that would be great but if not, we’ll wish him all the best.’ Despite his keen wish for O’Halloran to stick around — at least until Saturday evening — Scobbie does not believe his exit would cripple St Johnstone’s chances against a Hibs side currently high on confidence. ‘It would be a huge blow if he goes, but we’ve got other guys in the squad who can come in and do well in that position,’ argued Scobbie. ‘There’s Graham Cummins, Craig Thomson and David Wotherspoon, who can all play wide. Chris Millar could also be back. The manager might be looking about in order to do some business as well. ‘We’re a squad who come together when people don’t expect us to do well. That’s what we would do. It would galvanise the team. We wouldn’t look at it from a bad point of view.’