The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Saints boss ‘glad’ Kerr loan over
St Johnstone will be getting the best central defender in the Championship when Jason Kerr returns to the club next week, Perth boss Tommy Wright believes.
Kerr’s loan spell with Queen of the South has been a huge success.
The Scotland under-21 international, who had previously been farmed out to East Fife, has made 18 appearances and scored five times.
Queens boss Gary Naysmith would have loved to keep Kerr to aid their promotion bid but Wright wants Kerr back at McDiarmid Park to fight for a starting place with Saints in the second half of the season.
The same will be the case with striker Chris Kane, who has scored four goals in his last five games.
“Jason has a big future ahead of him,” said Wright. “I’m told he has been easily the best centreback in the Championship and I know Gary Naysmith believes that as well.
“They were desperate to keep him but I had to make sure I had numbers and quality here for the rest of the season.
“He is coming back to put real pressure on the centre-halves.
“I have every confidence that he is ready.
“Jason has moved up the levels and it was important we got him out to a Championship club this season, otherwise we’d have held on to him here and chucked him in.”
He continued: “I’m glad to get him back and Chris Kane as well.”
Kerr recently signed a contract extension with Saints through to 2020.
Naysmith is confident both Kerr and Kane will arrive back at McDiarmid Park as improved players.
The former East Fife boss said: “Although I am extremely disappointed to lose both players, I feel that as a club we have done our job in helping with their development.
“Jason has been a very consistent performer at the heart of our defence and he has shown that he is as good as anyone in the Championship in his position.
“He has also been rewarded with a new contract, which shows how highly the management team at St Johnstone rate him.
“Chris has shown in the last six or seven weeks exactly why we brought him to the club.
“His work-rate, pace and energy have been appreciated by us all and he has also started scoring goals on a regular basis.”
Naysmith confessed he was keen to hang on to both players beyond their initial agreement, which expired at the weekend, but Saints counterpart Tommy Wright wanted them back in Perth.