Steven MacLean should know a man to lead the line for St Johnstone when he sees one.
And the former Saints striker, who scored 47 goals in six years at McDiarmid Park, never lost his faith that Chris Kane had the skillset for the job.
Kane has been proving doubters wrong of late, finding the net against Dundee United and St Mirren in the Perth side’s last two matches to help secure four crucial Premiership points.
The player who was better known for his link-up play and selfless off-the-ball contributions is now ticking the goalscoring box as well.
And MacLean, a Scottish Cup hero turned coach, has confidence that Kane can now continue his excellent form in Saturday’s Betfred Cup semi-final clash with Hibs at Hampden Park.
“He has to take great credit because he is working really hard,” said Callum Davidson’s assistant, who scored in Saints’ historic 2014 cup final win.
“Everybody knows about his work-rate. He runs in behind and his hold-up play is great.
“The stuff he does for the team doesn’t go unnoticed by the rest of his team-mates.
“He’s added goals now too. I think that is him with six this season in 10 starts. If he can keep this up then it bodes well for him and the team.
“Kano has attributes that every team needs. I always thought if he just tidied up certain things he could always be that number one.
“He just needs to keep it going. I say to him every week – can he make it two in two? Or now, can he make it three in three against Hibs?
“I say to all the strikers – if you keep doing the right things you will get your rewards.
“I’m really pleased for him. It’s what he deserves. He’s out there working hard every day.”
MacLean added: “I’m not taking any credit for Kano’s form. If they want extra stuff I will give them extra stuff. If they want extra help I will give them extra help. That goes for anyone in the team.
“Defenders, young ones, if they feel like they need to come and do anything I am willing to help anybody. I will stay there until it is dark if need be if they want to, within reason.”
Guy Melamed is the other Saints forward who has grasped his chance of late.
He also scored at Tannadice and the pass the Israeli played through for his strike-partner on Saturday was the game-changing moment of class.
Melamed had been starved of competitive action up until last midweek but important enhancements to his repertoire were being made with MacLean and the other coaches on the training ground.
“The biggest thing with Guy now is his fitness and learning what the Scottish game is all about,” said MacLean.
“He has played in Israel his whole career but came over here, had to quarantine for two weeks and it’s a new environment to play football in for him.
“We’ve had to get him up to speed which has been difficult with Covid because there are no reserve games.
“You could see straight away he had ability but it was just that fitness aspect and knowing what it takes to play here.
“He’s worked hard on it and the fitter he’s got you have seen it because the sharper you get the ability comes through.
“He started against Dundee United, did really well and when he came in the next day for training you could see him kick on a bit again.
“So he’s building it up and getting there all the time.
“You can’t feel sorry for yourselves and the strikers need to just keep going and getting in the areas.
“It is up to us as coaches to keep helping them to do the right things.
“Hibs will be aware of Guy. He’s played against them this season and they’ll have done their homework.
“But he’s much sharper and fitter than he was then so I’m sure this weekend he’ll be a big asset to us.”
You also have Stevie and Cal to come into the equation as well.
Davidson has rotated his strikers this season so it wouldn’t be a shock if he had another plan in mind for Hibs other than continuing with Kane and Melamed as a duo.
“Guy has come in and done well and linked up with Kano but you also have Stevie (May) and Cal (Callum Hendry) to come into the equation as well,” said MacLean.
“They are all players who want to try and get better and keep improving, which is great.”
