St Johnstone have clinched the loan signings of two English Premier League players.
The deadline day Perth arrival of Newcastle’s former Lens midfielder Mehdi Abeid (20) and 19-year-old Swansea winger Gwion Edwards has boosted manager Steve Lomas’ options for the remainder of the season.
And reports last night linked the Saints with a loan move for a second Newcastle player.
Winger Marcus Maddison was also on the brink of completing a temporary switch to McDiarmid Park.
Abeid is a former French under-19 international who has switched allegiance to Algeria, while Edwards comes on the recommendation of Liverpool manager, and former Swansea boss, Brendan Rodgers.
International clearance has been secured and they are available for the cup tie against St Mirren.
Lomas said: “We wanted to get something else done before the window closed after bringing in Michael Doughty, who showed great energy when he came on against Aberdeen.
“Gwion’s a very pacy winger who has been brought up the Swansea way, where they like to pass the ball and get it wide.
“He’s a very attacking footballer and I actually spoke to Brendan Rodgers about him last year, but Brendan wanted to keep him working with his first team squad at that time. I think he thought it was a bit too soon for him. Brendan really liked him.
“Mehdi’s a technical midfielder who likes to get the ball down. It’s an area we needed to strengthen and they’re both under-21s, which helps.”
There was one departure from McDiarmid Park. Homegrown midfielder Kevin Moon has left “by mutual consent”.
Meanwhile, Saints chairman Steve Brown last night knocked back a bid from Hibs to take midfielder Liam Craig to Edinburgh ahead of schedule.
Craig has signed a pre-contract agreement to join the Easter Road club in the summer and Hibs boss Pat Fenlon tried to strike a last-gasp deal to get Craig in now.
“We rejected an approach from Hibs for Liam,” Brown revealed.
“He is an important player for us and we have plenty to play for over the next few months.”