St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright is stepping up his pursuit of Falkirk’s Blair Alston.
The Bairns’ season finished on Sunday with play-off disappointment against Kilmarnock, and the midfielder’s focus will now turn to where he will be playing his football next season.
Saints are long-time admirers of the 24-year-old and Wright will be hoping to make progress in their signing talks in the near future.
He said: “We did increase our offer to Blair Alston and I plan to speak to the player in the next day or two to see where we stand.
“I can fully understand he has had to focus on the play-offs.”
There was no fresh news yesterday regarding Paul Paton.
“We have made Paul Paton an offer and he has still to clear-up his situation at United,” Wright added.
Meanwhile, two of the Perth club’s promising young centre-backs, Liam Gordon and Jason Kerr, have signed new one-year contracts.
Wright said: “Liam made his debut against Hearts and did well while Jason had a great season out on loan at East Fife.
“Liam has had loan spells and there’s every chance Jason will go out on loan again, this time to League One. East Fife are in pole position to get him after being promoted.
“Liam will come back and train with the first team in pre-season.
“But he needs to be playing. Sitting on the bench and filling in for the odd game won’t be good for his development long-term.
“We also have Ally Gilchrist to think about. He has done well up at Peterhead. He picked up an injury and missed the play-offs so he has to get himself fit and be ready to go again.
“But I don’t think we will let both go out on loan so a decision will have to be made.”
Wright will be crossing swords with another Northern Irish manager next season in Brendan Rodgers.
He believes the Parkhead club have made an excellent appointment:
“It’s good for the league that a manager of his quality is coming up,” Wright said.
“I spoke to him a couple of times on the phone about players when he was in charge at Liverpool.
“Celtic have taken their time and appointed a very good manager.
“It certainly doesn’t surprise me that a manager of Brendan’s calibre would want the job. Celtic are a massive club.
“This is a club he has ties to in terms of being a supporter but ultimately it is a great challenge for him.
“I’m sure he will have had assurances of a budget for players and I think we will see most clubs strengthen this summer.
“Brendan has already been linked with Steven Gerrard and Rangers are after Joey Barton. That is good for the game in general because they are big name players.
“They are great professionals and wouldn’t just be coming here for a final pay day if they do come to Scotland.
“With Rangers coming back Celtic were always going to invest. And to be fair they backed Ronny Deila as well. They have a strong squad already. I would imagine some will leave but they will add real quality over the summer.”
The Scottish Cup Hampden Park pitch invasion will dominate the news agenda in Scottish football for a while yet but Wright believes that by the time 2016/17 gets underway there will be a positive vibe.
He said: “Looking beyond the cup final fall-out I think when the dust settles and we are looking at a new season then there will be every reason to be positive about the game here.
“There should be a feel good factor about the game and the cup final shouldn’t be allowed to detract from it.
“There is more broadcasting money and with Rangers coming back into the league gates should increase.
“For clubs like ours, with the league getting tougher next season it is about getting the balance right in terms of the budget, strengthening the squad but without putting yourself in jeopardy financially.”
