St Johnstone manager Steve Lomas has revealed that Murray Davidson took a pre-match pain-killing injection to enable him to play against Hearts on Sunday.
The combative midfielder summed up a gutsy Perth comeback with his trademark all-action performance before he had to be withdrawn with just over 10 minutes to go.
Lomas reported that an ankle injury has been troubling the former Livingston man recently, and it could sideline him for the Tayside derby against Dundee United on Saturday.
The McDiarmid Park boss explained: ”Murray’s been carrying an ankle knock for a wee while. He twisted it again at Motherwell and we nursed it through the week.
”He gave his usual total commitment against Hearts. He actually had a local anaesthetic before the game. He’s a manager’s dream.
”I did that a lot myself playing when you’re not quite 100%. He did very well to last as long as he did.
”There was a recurrence of the problem and we brought him off and we’ll have to nurse him over the next few days again.
”Murray will definitely be struggling for Saturday, but knowing him he could come to see me on Friday and say: ‘I’m good to go, gaffer’.”
Lomas is well aware that Davidson may need saving from his own determination to play.
He said: ”I can see a lot of myself in him. But I know that it’s my job to get the balance right and make sure we don’t put him at any risk. It will be up to me to make that call and first and foremost will always be the player’s fitness.”
A day’s reflection hadn’t changed Lomas’s opinion on Dave Mackay’s sending-off at Tynecastle.
He pointed out: ”I still don’t think that any fair-minded person would think that was a booking. Now Dave’s suspended for the replay and because it was two yellow cards there’s no process of appeal.
”We’ll be missing an important player, and it’s farcical really. It was quite clearly a mistake.”
One man who is likely to start a match soon is comeback striker Cillian Sheridan, who kept Saints in the cup with his equaliser on Sunday.
Lomas said: ”Cilly was blowing at the end because of the tempo of the game, but he definitely gave us a lift in the second half. There will be serious consideration about starting him soon.
”His goal wasn’t an easy one to take. He had a lot of time to think about and took it brilliantly. People might have thought it strange that I fought so hard to keep someone who had hardly played for me but I looked a lot at the DVDs of matches before I took over and I saw exactly what Cilly’s capable of.
”Fran (Sandaza) made a big contribution to the goal as well. People don’t realise that he’s got that eye-of-a-needle pass in him. The two of them obviously have a good understanding on the pitch and hopefully we’ll see more of that.”See Wednesday’s Courier for an in-depth interview with Saints chairman Steve Brown about his first couple of months in the jobPhoto by Danny Lawson/PA Wire