Davidson not prepared to gamble with key men

Lichties’ Premiership dream over as nine-man ICT win on penalties

Callum Davidson is ready to wrap key St Johnstone players in cotton wool for tomorrow’s clash with Hibs. The curtain comes down on the regular season at Easter Road but the St Johnstone manager is already preparing for the Premiership play-offs which offer the Perth club a chance to maintain their 13-year membership of the top-flight.

The midweek 1-0 win over Aberdeen removed any lingering prospect of automatic relegation, sealing the fate of Tayside neighbours Dundee only a year after they escaped the Championship. Davidson, who took in last night’s deciding semi-final clash between Arbroath and Inverness Caley Thistle, made it clear he isn’t prepared to gamble with any players carrying a knock or flirting with suspension.

“We will be making changes and the lads who haven’t played much will get a chance,” he said. “Next Friday is the important game for us so it will be four or five in and out.”

One player pencilled-in for a belated first start is former Sligo Rovers defender John Mahon, who has been restricted to cameos from the bench since arriving in January.

He got game time against Livingston and on the last visit to Easter Road, which ended 0-0.

“John will get the chance to come in because he’s been very patient and has been training well,” said Davidson.

“Cammy MacPherson is fine as well so he will be involved too. We have a few niggles with other players, Stevie May being one of them. We will just have a look at it and decide who to go with.

“We have players getting close to suspensions as well so it’s a good thing we have the last game with nothing at stake.”

Davidson welcomed the midweek win which ensured tomorrow’s clash is effectively a dead rubber.

“The last thing we wanted to be doing was going into this game needing a result,” he said.

“The main thing now is we get everyone through to next Friday 100%.

“I was pleased with the clean sheet against Aberdeen.

“I thought our shape was very good and our defensive line was good.

“We would have liked to have scored more goals but we got into good areas and created some good chances.

“Hopefully we can get another decent performance against Hibs and go into next week with even more momentum.”