Callum Davidson is hopeful that he can reach the end of the transfer window with all his star players still at St Johnstone.
The Perth boss confirmed that Hibs’ third offer for Jamie McCart was knocked back and, though he can’t dismiss the possibility of new bids coming in for some of his cup heroes before Tuesday night’s deadline, his focus in on adding to his squad.
“The bid wasn’t anywhere near so we move on,” said Davidson.
“And we’re going to try and get one or two in.
“You never know what might happen in football – things come out of the blue – but hopefully we can keep this squad intact.
“It’s very hard if you lose somebody late to replace them in a short timeframe.”
Davidson made six changes to his starting line-up for the 0-0 draw against St Mirren and the decision paid off.
The Perth side weathered a set-piece storm and then could have snatched a winner with a late Glenn Middleton free-kick that struck the crossbar.
“The first half was pretty even and they had a few set-plays that caused us problem,” said Davidson.
“In the second half we started to look dangerous in the game and looked like the team that was going to go on and win it.
“Unfortunately we’re just not able to put the ball in the back of the net at the moment.
“Glenn had a fantastic strike and on another day it would have ended up in the top corner.
“He gave us a spark when he came on and so did Kano.”
Winless but in good heart
Saints are still winless in the Premiership but head into the international break in good spirits.
“It’s a game we go away from feeling positive about,” said Davidson.
“We made a lot of changes and I thought we were better than last Sunday (against Dundee United). Our energy levels were better.
“That was probably a wee lesson for me as well.
Zander Clark made a few excellent saves, the pick of them a reflex block from Richard Tait just before half-time.
“I was annoyed about the free-kick we gave away,” said Davidson. “We need to be more disciplined than that.
“I talk about it all the time.
“It was a great save by Zander, though.”
Liam Gordon and Murray Davidson both missed the match, with Davidson reporting: “Gordy might be out for a wee while.
“We just need to wait and see where he is.
“We’ve had his knee scanned and we just need to take care with it so it settles down.
“We’ve got a bit of time off now.
“Muzz hurt his shoulder on Thursday night.”
