St Johnstone have secured the services of midfield pair Gary McDonald and Scott Brown on extended deals at the Perth club, just days after snapping up Bolton striker Michael O’Halloran.
McDonald and Brown have put pen to paper on new contracts as boss Tommy Wright seeks to retain the bulk of his squad for next season, and his plans very much include 15-goal hitman Stevie May who has previously attracted interest from Peterborough and Rotherham.
However, Wright is also keen to add new faces in the January transfer window and has revealed he wants to recruit an experienced target man to boost his attacking options.
Finances though, as ever, will dictate on that front. He noted: “The chairman (Steve Brown) and I are working closely to see what we can get with the budget available to us.
“I fully appreciate he can’t give me money that he doesn’t have.
“Some of the teams above us, like Aberdeen and Hibs, have had a massive uplift in attendances so I would imagine they will be active in the transfer window.
“But I will be happy if we can hold onto Stevie May and bring in an experienced striker to help him in the absence of an influential player like Stevie MacLean who is out until next month.
“We have to get more goals across the team and it was good to get in Michael O’Halloran.”
“He can play across the front and in behind as a 10. He has signed for at least a year-and-a-half.
“But it is also important to hold onto our players and I am delighted to get Gary McDonald and young Scott Brown signed up again. Gary has another year with a 12-month option and deserves it.
“We would have liked Scott to sign for longer but I can understand that he wants to see how things pan out for him here.
“I see players like Scott as the future of the club and I have been really pleased with his development since coming in from Bradford.
“He will play a part this season and I see a big future for him here. We are also talking with other players about extending their contracts.”
Meanwhile, it emerged yesterday that Saints have decided against extending centre half Sanel Jahic’s stay at McDiarmid Park after the expiry of his short-term contract.
Saints signed the Bosnia-Herzegovina defender on a short-term deal at a time when the club needed cover in the defensive areas, with Steven Anderson out with a dislocated thumb and Frazer Wright receiving an extended suspension of three Premiership games.
However, Jahic who has 31 caps for his country has been told by boss Tommy Wright that he will not be kept on at the club.
Wright added: “Sanel is one I would like to have kept and he was willing to stay but I feel that what money we have to strengthen the squad has to be used in other areas.
“Finances simply dictated that we couldn’t afford to keep him. When Brian Easton is fit again in 10 days or so we will have six defenders.
“Sanel’s experience would have come in handy and he had the World Cup as a goal to drive him on. But we are no in a position to spend money we don’t have and I have to be realistic.”
The news follows on loan winger Gwion Edwards’ decision to return to his parent club Swansea after his spell with Saints a decision Wright admits “disappointed” him.
“I wanted to keep him,” he continued.
“Six weeks ago, being honest, it might have been a different story. But after a couple of good performances I would have been more than happy to have him here to the end of the season.
“But he felt I should give him a guarantee of first team football. The only guarantee I could give him was that if he continued playing as he had done in the last couple of games he would be in my team.
“I think he would have benefited from staying with us but I wish him well back at City.”
Young defender Gareth Rodger has also been told he will not be going out on loan again to Montrose when he recovers from knee surgery.