St Johnstone boss Callum Davidson has confirmed that David Wotherspoon will be in contention for Thursday night’s Europa Conference League playoff decider against LASK.
The Canadian internationalist has missed the Saintees’ last three games due to a period of Covid-enforced isolation but will return to training on Monday morning.
The protracted arrival of Eetu Vertainen also edges closer.
“David Wotherspoon is back tomorrow (Monday),” said Davidson. “In these types of games he can stand on the ball and give us a bit of quality in the final third.
“Unfortunately, that [his absence] is just Covid. There’s not a lot you can do. We’ve all had issues and we’ve had to cope without him. But he’ll be welcomed back
“We hope Eetu [Vertainen] will be here very soon because he is very similar to David in that regard. We are close — it’s just taking time with visas but we are hopeful it will happen in the coming week.”
No excuses
While St Johnstone could have been forgiven for having one eye on the most lucrative game in their history in four days’ time, Davidson’s team selection on Sunday underlined the importance he placed on the visit of Dundee United.
And he did not sugar-coat his disappointment in the aftermath of a 1-0 defeat, secured courtesy of a ‘sloppy’ Peter Pawlett strike.
Pawlett would later be dismissed after picking up a second yellow card for diving.
“We weren’t quite sharp enough,” he rued. “We weren’t reacting quickly enough.
“Whether you put it down to a game last Thursday, we have to deal with getting the best out of players when big games come think and fast — because we weren’t quite at it.
“We gave away a sloppy goal. I don’t mind if they score good goals but we could do much better for their goal, then we didn’t have enough zip up front.”
Liam Gordon missed out on the match-day squad altogether and Davidson added: “Liam had an injury and wasn’t one we could risk.”
