Hodson’s future on hold as he bids to keep Buddies up

ST MIRREN

V ST JOHNSTONE

Lee Hodson’s only thought when told his season could be over was frustration that he could not help St Mirren’s survival fight.

The loan player’s Rangers contract expires in the summer but his personal situation was not a major concern. And, even after the full-back’s recovery from an ankle injury, Hodson is putting thoughts about his future to one side to focus on keeping the Buddies up.

The Northern Ireland international has been back on the bench and is looking to complete his comeback from a three-month lay-off when St Johnstone visit Paisley today.

The 27-year-old said: “It’s fantastic to be back. I didn’t know if I’d be back this season but I had luck on my side. It’s always hard when you don’t know whether your season is going to be over. My main thought at the time when I did my injury was missing games with St Mirren. It never came into my mind being out of contract.

“Hopefully I can play a part before the end of the season and contribute to keeping the club in the Premiership.”

Tommy Wright wants his St Johnstone team to take another step towards finishing seventh against St Mirren. The Perth side hold a three-point advantage over Motherwell in the race to be top of the bottom six and Wright said: “If we want to finish the season in seventh then it’s a game we have to be looking to win and, likewise, St Mirren will see it as an opportunity to almost guarantee that they won’t finish the season bottom.

“However we know we’re more than capable and we’ve proved that in the three games we’ve had against St Mirren this season already.”