New St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright delighted by hectic opening

New St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright is looking forward to a hectic few weeks after learning of the new season’s league fixtures.

Saints will face financially-stricken Hearts on August 3 at McDiarmid Park, having already played their two Europa League qualifiers on July 18 and 25.

The Perth side will learn who they will face in those two games on Monday and Wright admitted excitement was growing.

He said: “I think the Hearts game is a good start for us in the league, a home tie on the back of our European games.

“We were quite strong at home last year with a decent record against Hearts. You have to play them all at some stage so we are happy with what we have got in the first few games.

“We are back for pre-season next week and we will start preparing for Europe. That will add a wee bit more excitement to the work we’ve got to do with the lads.

“It certainly shortens pre-season you get into the competitive games a lot quicker too.

“We’re looking forward to it. We’ve got 16 signed players, which is more than we had last year. We’ll get more in and that will give us the best chance to get through the opening round of the Europa League.”