St Johnstone’s masked winger will have a sleek new look this weekend.
Craig Conway was thrilled to be back on a football pitch on Tuesday night after his nose and ear had become close neighbours following a head clash with Motherwell defender Bevis Mugabi a few weeks earlier.
But the former Dundee United forward’s facial protection for the Betfred Cup quarter-final at Dunfermline made him feel more like a tradesman ready to pick up a blowtorch or a bag of tools than an athlete tasked with being fleet of foot and sharp of reaction.
So it has come as a relief that a replacement made-to-measure mask has arrived in time for Saturday’s clash with St Mirren.
“The one on Tuesday night wasn’t the most attractive, I have to say,” said Conway.
“It wasn’t comfortable at all – like being strapped into something from war-time.
“It wasn’t made for football, if I’m honest. I think it was made for welding or drilling!
“I pretty much only had tunnel vision as well, which is obviously an issue
“I had to wear it. If I got another knock on the nose it would be game over for it.
“It was a small price to pay to be able to play but it’s in the bin now.”
The 35-year-old made use of his Blackburn Rovers connection to source the type of mask that will be fit for purpose.
“I’ve got a proper one now which I’ve already worn in training,” he said. “It’s like night and day compared to the last one. It’s custom-made.
“When I was at Blackburn we had a player, David Raya, who had a pretty bad nose break. I spoke to the physio down there who had a contact and I managed to get an appointment quickly on the back of that.
“I thought it would have been really hard because of Covid and because it’s the run-up to Christmas but we got it on the same day.
“There’s no way I could play without a mask. I can tell just by touching the nose that any sort of contact from a ball or an elbow would have it back across by my ear.
“I’ll probably need to get an op at the end of the season because it’s floating about really.
“When I got taken to the hospital I turned up with my full kit on, looking like Steve Bruce! There were some funny looks, that’s for sure.
“Then they told me it would have to stay like that for five days until they could reset it. That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. I was expecting my wife to pack her bags and leave.
“The kids have been calling me the Grinch.”
The moral of the story for a player who lifted a Scottish Cup with Dundee United, got to the top of the English club scene with Cardiff City and won Scotland caps through the quality of his foot-work rather than his aerial ability is clear.
“It’s the first and last header I’m going up for!” he said.
“I’ve had a career of 20 years and it’s taken until now to get a broken nose.
“I can remember the ball coming in. It briefly struck my head and then I got the contact. I thought it was a shoulder or a forearm hitting me but there was a crack and I knew right away that it was broken. I went down on my knees to touch it and the nose wasn’t where it should be!
“I did fear that I’d be out for a lot longer.
“But once the swelling went down and we did the research on the mask I was confident I would come back after we got that sorted.
“It’s a frustrating injury because you can kick and play. It’s literally just a nose keeping you out.”
Both teams involved in this Premiership fixture are one game away from a cup final and two games away from silverware. Expect to see plenty of confident and highly-motivated St Johnstone and St Mirren players between now and the weekend of January 23/24.
“It’s massive,” said Conway. “A lot of players don’t get the chance to play in a semi-final. We’re all really excited about it.
“The results the other night have made it wide open for everyone.
“We’ve got a tough test in Hibs but all four clubs will feel they’ve got a good chance of getting to a final.
“That’s something to look forward to but for us the focus goes straight back to Saturday and the league.
“It was never a stick-on that Rangers would go on and win it but they were the over-riding favourites.
“I have been in teams that have beaten the Old Firm in cups and it does open things up.
“Most people would have expected a Rangers win given the way they have been playing at home and in Europe. They have been excellent. I have to admit I didn’t see that result coming.
“But fair play to St Mirren.”
Saints will struggle to out-play any side as comprehensively as they did the Buddies at the end of August. It is likely to be a meaningless barometer, however, as even if you look past the Paisley side’s heroics against Rangers there has been an obvious up-turn in performances and points accumulation for Jim Goodwin’s men.
“We were dominant and pretty comfortable against St Mirren in Perth,” Conway recalled.
“I remember we were well on top and couldn’t score until Mayso came on and scored towards the end.
“But this will be a completely different task. They have improved massively and they will be buzzing after beating Rangers and getting through to the semis.
“But hopefully we can go there, play some nice football and get a result.”
Conway doesn’t believe there is cause for too much introspection in the Perth camp after making hard work of putting away Dunfermline in midweek.
“In the first half I was sitting on the bench thinking this could be three or four,” he said.
“We were on top of them, almost suffocating them. We had a few chances and could have made it a lot more comfortable than it ended up.
“But to be fair to Dunfermline they stuck at it and came into the game. They started creating some chances themselves.
“When Roons scored I thought we would see it out. But you never know in cup football.
“The penalties were of a very good standard and as long as your name is in the draw for the next round no one looks back on the performance.”
