Theo Bair and John Mahon have only clocked up about 90 minutes of game-time for St Johnstone between them.
But Perth boss Callum Davidson views both of the January recruits as long-term assets with “big futures”.
The Premiership rookies arrived from Canada and Ireland respectively towards the end of the mid-season transfer window.
Neither has yet started a match, with Bair seeing marginally more action off the bench.
It would have been a bonus for Davidson if either or both had hit the ground running in Saints’ first team but his faith that they will go on to become McDiarmid Park regulars hasn’t wavered.
Signed for next few years not next few months
“It’s a difficult one,” he said.
“Theo and John are both still young, in their early 20s.
“Performance levels have gone up (in the team) around the time they came in, which was obviously good for me.
“The back three have been a lot better and Callum Hendry has obviously been brilliant for us.
“He’s scored seven goals in 10 games.
Never in doubt 😎 pic.twitter.com/9767c52woD
— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) April 4, 2022
“He’s the perfect example of someone saying ‘that’s my jersey’. There’s no argument about it.
“They’ve just got to bide their time and be patient.
“Then when they do get their opportunity they’ve got to take it.
“I’m sure they’d have wanted to make an impact straight away but we’ve signed them for the next few years not just for a few months.”
Bedding-in period will help them
That Bair and Mahon have had the chance to acclimatise to Scottish football gradually will end up being no bad thing, according to Davidson.
“It’s an investment by the club (transfer fees were paid for both) and we see great potential in Theo and John,” he added.
“A bedding-in period will help them in the long run.
“We obviously saw that with Guy (Melamed) last year. He found it hard at the start and struggled to get going but then he scored goals.
“It’s a huge thing when you change countries. You see it all over, not just at St Johnstone.”
