Ali McCann’s performance in Sunday’s narrow Scottish Cup defeat to Celtic was another eye-catching one in what has been a stunning first season as a St Johnstone regular.
There will no doubt be talk of a big money summer move for the 20-year-old who was tied down on a long-term contract a few months ago.
And the next box ticked for Northern Ireland under-21 international McCann could be a first senior call-up.
But the McDiarmid Park rising star has still got tunnel vision on his club football.
“It’s up to them to decide,” he said, when asked about Northern Ireland play-off squad selection.
“I just do what I’m told. There’s a break coming up in a month’s time and we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
“I’ve just got to keep my head down. There are plenty of games between now and the end of the season to get looking up towards the top six.
“Hopefully we can catch the teams above us, which is a realistic goal. If we keep playing the way we did on Sunday, we’ll put pressure on them.
“Since we’ve come back from the winter break we’ve been in good form. Everyone has been chipping in and performing well.”
Heavy defeats to Celtic have become the norm for Saints in recent seasons but that definitely wasn’t the case at the weekend.
“Throughout the whole game we matched them up,” said McCann. “At the time they scored, I felt we were dominating.
“It’s gutting to lose a goal in that manner, especially considering how well we did against the best team in the country.
“It is just gutting to lose in that fashion. We had chances to go ahead in the game and then even had chances afterwards to equalise.
“It was unfortunate but I thought we were brilliant throughout.
“We were picking up second balls, moving it well and had them on the ropes for a wee while.
“We never managed to capitalise with a clear-cut chance and they score a poor goal from our perspective.”
Saints are back in league action tomorrow night against St Mirren at the Simple Digital Arena, with the Premiership’s top six in their sights.
“We have to keep building and have two massive games, on Wednesday at St Mirren then Livingston on Saturday,” said McCann.
“We need to play with the same intensity and put pressure on them. Hopefully we can turn pressure into goals and come away with positive results.
“St Mirren are always a tough team to play against and we’ve not had the best of results against them this season. It’s never an easy place to go.
“But if we pass the ball as well as we did on Sunday then we can come away with a result.”
January loan signing Matt Butcher has been very impressed with his central midfield partner and for McCann the feeling is mutual.
“I like playing alongside Matt,” he said. “He is composed and is a really good passer of the ball.
“And he also likes doing the dirty work, which you need to do in games like Sunday. He is always on for a pass which helps massively.”
