Survival battle boost for Levein

St Johnstone manager Craig Levein is hoping to have virtually a full squad at his disposal to bolster his Premiership survival battle selection options.

But the Perth boss believes getting his players’ heads right will be just as important as their bodies.

It’s a five-game mini-season to avoid the play-offs, with Ross County having cut the gap to third bottom to just one point thanks to their shock victory over Rangers in the last round of presplit fixtures.

Making sure Saints adopt the right mindset for every match is a big part of Levein’s job just now – and fans will be hoping his vast experience in football helps on that front over the next few weeks.

“A lot of it is down to mentality and your outlook,” said Levein.

“It would be great to get off to a good start and build some momentum. That is really important.

“The players have had a few days off and are back in today. They are lively and in good spirits. I want them to go into the game off the back of a good week’s training.”

Levein will leave it until close to Saturday’s game before deciding whether to include Liam Gordon, Drey Wright, Dare Olufunwa and DJ Jaiyesimi in his match-day squad.

“Liam is improving and so is Dare,” he reported.

“Drey has been training with us for over a week now. He is looking good.

“DJ is training as well. We are starting to get some back.

“We’ll have a look at things later in the week. I can’t say for certain.

“We just need to be careful we don’t damage anybody any further by throwing them in too early.”