St Johnstone boss Steve Lomas is thrilled that teenage striker Stevie May is making his mark with loan club Alloa.
The youngster grabbed a hat-trick in the Wasps’ 3-1 win over East Stirling at the weekend and Recreation Park manager Paul Hartley is keen to extend his stay.
But Lomas, who is pressing Bulgarian outfit CSKA Sofia to let them keep Cillian Sheridan at McDiarmid Park through to the end of the campaign, admits he will have to assess his frontline options before giving Hartley the thumbs-up.
When he does end his loan at Alloa be it this month or in the summer Lomas believes Saints will reap the benefits of May getting regular first-team football.
He said: ”We’re delighted for Stevie and the hat-trick will have sent his confidence soaring. We have already seen the benefits of his loan spell in training sessions. He is really buzzing.
”I’ll have to sit down with coaches Tommy Wright and Alec Cleland to assess whether Stevie will be involved if he comes back, or whether it is better for him to be getting more first-team experience and getting goals at Alloa.”
The 19-year-old burst on to the SPL scene last season under previous boss Derek McInnes. He had a couple of man-of-the-match performances but slipped out of the top-team picture towards the end of the term.
The local lad then dropped further down the pecking order with the arrival of Sheridan, Fran Sandaza and Marcus Haber in the summer.
Lomas added: ”Kids are never the finished article when they come into the first team. The fear you have with youngsters is that they stagnate because of the under-21 rule.
”I know Paul Hartley and he has been good for Stevie. This is a young manager who has a wealth of experience at top clubs as a player and Stevie is learning all the time.”
Inverness have halved ticket prices for their rearranged SPL game against Saints as they apologised for the late postponement.
The Perth club were well on the way to Inverness ahead of the 2pm kick-off and Lomas was left ”bamboozled” over the change in circumstances.