New Saints striker Fran Sandaza is confident the Perth side will hit the goal trail.
After finishing last season as the lowest scorers in Britain, the last thing St Johnstone wanted was to start off the new campaign with their ability to hit the back of the net thrown straight into the spotlight again.
That’s exactly what’s happened, however, after they failed to find the target for the third successive match in the 1-0 defeat to Dunfermline at the weekend.
The pessimists will be predicting another long, barren season for the Perth side, but the substitute appearance of Fran Sandaza would suggest otherwise.
The Spaniard got just over half an hour of game time in the second half and showed in that short spell that he may be the man to get the ‘goals for’ column ticking over.
Just five minutes after coming on, his quick feet in the box forced a clumsy trip out of John Potter and won a spot-kick for Saints, with Potter red-carded. The former Dundee United man grabbed the ball himself, but regular penalty taker Liam Craig took it off him with the backing of boss Derek McInnes.
Craig saw his effort saved by Paul Gallacher, and a great chance to get Saints off and running evaporated.
Sandaza had no complaints with his manager’s decision to give Craig the nod, nor does he believe scoring goals will be an issue for the Perth men this season.
He said: “We were unlucky with the result because we didn’t deserve to lose that game. Penalty misses can happen to anyone.
“I had confidence and that’s why I took the ball but the gaffer decided that Liam should take it. He is the boss and I respect that decision. I’m not annoyed. These things happen.”
He added: “I didn’t know that Liam took the penalties last season and I just wanted to score for the team. Normally I like to take penalties but I have missed them as well. Everybody has.
“I told Liam afterwards to keep his chin up and he doesn’t have to feel disappointed. He’s a very good player and these things happen in football.”
Sandaza added: “We’ve got great defenders and great midfielders and we only have to score more goals. I’m working to play my part and hopefully we’ll do that.
“I think I can do very well for this club. There are other excellent strikers and I’m sure we’ll score plenty of goals. We’ve only played three games so I don’t think we need to worry about goals. We’re working on being a top-six team.”
Dunfermline may be the SPL new boys but goalscoring doesn’t look like being a problem for them not when they’ve got a clinical poacher like Andy Kirk in their side.
The Northern Irishman prides himself on being in the right place at the right time when a ball’s coming into the box, and so it proved again on Saturday when he stuck out a leg to turn in a Jason Thomson shot from the edge of the box for his fourth of the season.
Kirk said: “It’s been a good start for me personally and the club. I’m a goalscorer and I’ve always got goals everywhere I’ve played. If you get in the right positions then hopefully the ball will drop for you.
“That’s what happened for that goal. There was a shot across goal and I got myself into an area where I thought the ball might arrive. For a striker it’s always good to get goals early. It’s something I want to build on.
“I believe in my own ability and I believe I’m capable of playing at this level. I’ve had three years in the First Division and now I want to do well in the SPL.
“I have my own targets but I don’t tell anybody. It’s a personal battle and I set myself high targets. Nine times out of 10 I get there.”
Potter’s red card meant 30 minutes of digging in for the Pars. Understandably they didn’t see much of the ball but the backline did a fine job of manning the barricades, ensuring that Gallacher had a pretty stress-free time of it.
East End Park boss Jim McIntyre said: “It’s a great start that we’ve made, but that all it is. We’re only three games in and we won’t be getting carried away. There’s a lot of tough tests ahead.”
McInnes said: “If we’d scored the penalty I think we’d have gone on to win the game. But in terms of overall performance it wasn’t too bad. We just lacked a bit of intelligence in the last third, but that will come.
“Liam’s the penalty-taker. He wanted to take the kick. I don’t know what Fran is like on penalties because I’ve only worked with him for a couple of weeks. It’s encouraging that Fran wanted to take it. It augurs well for the future.”
Callum Davidson missed the game with a slight thigh strain.