He’s had to be patient but Callum Davidson could finally have a full squad at his disposal for today’s trip to Motherwell.
Since taking over the St Johnstone reins, the Perth manager’s options have been restricted by a series of injuries afflicting key members of his squad.
But with personnel on the mend and midfielder Liam Craig available after a one-game suspension, Davidson has a welcome selection dilemma on his hands.
And with Saints looking to build-on a deserved 1-0 win over St Mirren before the international break, experienced players may have to bide their time to regain a place in the starting line-up.
“Callum Booth is still probably 50/50. He’s had an ongoing Achilles problem, so he is touch and go,” said Davidson.
“Everybody else is fit and ready. I am delighted to have a roughly a full squad to pick from.
“Players like Liam and Murray Davidson play a vital role. Any experienced player has a big role to play in the dressing room and on the pitch.
“It is great to have them back again. It is good for me to have competition for places.
“It was tough having key players out.
“In a couple of the games we could have done with a few of the experienced players either playing in the team or coming off the bench to help us later on in games.”
Keeper Zander Clark got 90 minutes in a friendly with Dundee United but stand-in Elliott Parish has proved his credentials over the first six games.
“It is great to have Zander back. He’s a big presence in the goal,” said Davidson.
“Big Elliott has done well since he has come in so it will be up to Zander to dislodge him.
“We’ll need to have a look at his match sharpness rather than his fitness.”
After claiming third place last term to qualify for Europe, Stephen Robinson’s Motherwell are at the foot of the table and still looking for their first domestic victory.
Three home games on the spin culminated in an impressive display and victory against the Buddies.
Now Davidson is eager to piece together a winning run.
And he has warned his players to ignore the Steel Men’s current status.
“Motherwell are a good team,” he stressed.
“I’ve watched a lot of their games and thought they probably haven’t got the points they deserve.
“If you watch the games back, they’ve played really well, they’ve just been unfortunate that they haven’t scored.
“They’re probably a little bit akin to ourselves, how we’ve played in certain games.
“They are probably thinking they should be on more points.
“They’re definitely a good team and we need to be aware of it.
“Over the course of the season with the quality of players they’ve got, they’ll climb the league.
“We just have to make sure it is not against us that it starts.”
Previous Perth boss Tommy Wright would initially set a 10-point target for his squad.
Saints are sitting on seven points but Davidson has a different approach.
“I just look to win as many games as possible,” he said. “For me performances and points come together.
“Don’t get me wrong though, I’ll take a bad performance and three points.
“But it’s about working towards consistent performances at a high level.
“Every game is a hard game. I’ve found that already.
“We have to be on it all the time and make sure the lads are prepared for that Saturday to Saturday.
“I thought we played really well in the last three games at home. The difference is that we got the goal against St Mirren.
“Against Hibs we should have scored and in the Aberdeen game we nullified them as well.
“It’s about building performances and trying to get better at what we are doing.
“Hopefully we can start to create more chances and score more goals when we get into good areas of the pitch.
“And at the back we always have to make sure we stay switched on and keep it tight, making us difficult to beat.”
Davidson had been hoping the international break would buy time to strengthen his squad.
But the search is still ongoing.
“A couple of the younger players will be going out on loan next week,” he said.
“We are still working away trying to get a couple of players in. Whether we will get one in for Saturday, I don’t know.”
