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EXCLUSIVE: St Johnstone youngster Bobby Dailly happy to be Mr Versatile like former Scotland star dad Christian

Bobby Dailly in action for St Johnstone.
Bobby Dailly was on the books of St Johnstone last term.

Bobby Dailly has inherited his dad’s athleticism and football talent.

And – like former Scotland international, Christian before him – the young St Johnstone player will gladly make positional versatility a career asset.

From his days as a 16-year-old striker breaking through at Tannadice under Jim McLean, Christian went on to star for his country and big clubs in England across the backline and in midfield.

Bobby has started out with Saints as a right-sided centre-half in a back three – a role he performed well with the Perth club’s colts in their midweek SPFL Trust Trophy defeat to East Fife.

But he’ll be content to keep his options open.

“I can play anywhere, really,” said the Millwall academy product.

“I’ve been at centre-back but I can get up and down at right-back or centre-mid and get on the ball.

“I’ve got a bit of skill on me and I can hold the ball up so I could also go up front.

Christian Dailly in action for Scotland at Hampden.
Christian Dailly in action for Scotland at Hampden.

“Hopefully that’s a good thing at this stage of my career – having different possibilities.

“I’ll play wherever the manager wants me to, give it my all and try to improve in any way I can.”

The next stage of that improvement may well be temporarily away from Perth.

“I’m happy to go out on loan and gain more experience if that’s how the manager sees things,” he said.

“Play in more physical games, improve and then come back here and give it everything I’ve got.

“I’m sure playing men’s football would help me and build my confidence.

“It would be great.

“Then the aim would be to come back and get in the St Johnstone first team.

“I definitely have the belief that I can do it.”

Result not the most important thing

Dailly, whose dynamism and energy on the right flank pointed to opportunities that might open up at full-back, was able to put Saints’ 4-0 loss at Bayview into perspective for himself and team-mates in Liam Craig’s side who were even younger.

“It was disappointing to lose,” he told Courier Sport.

“For the first 30 minutes we got ourselves into it really well but their first goal came at a bad time for us.

“Then in the second half we struggled to get back into the game after the sending off.

“Obviously we wanted to win and progress to the next round of the competition but it was still a really good experience to play against a League Two team.

“It was a lot more physical and it’s definitely something I’ll benefit from. It shows you the importance of staying switched on throughout a whole game.”

Dailly added: “I’m really enjoying it here. I settled in straight away.

“Every day I’m getting fitter and stronger.

“I trained with Alex (Mitchell) quite a lot at Millwall. We played in the same team once or twice. He’s a good guy.

“I knew Browny (James Brown) as well.”

Good to do it on his own

Bobby still has family in Dundee and his father, uncle Marcus and brother Harvey all played professionally at either Dens Park or Tannadice.

Basing himself further west in Tayside may turn out to be no bad thing.

“I obviously love my family and love being around them but it’s good for me to be able to do this on my own,” said Bobby.

“That’s really important. I prefer it this way.

“My dad knows when to get involved and when not to.

“He’s coached me for my whole life and always gives me pointers to help me out – whether that’s about things I’m doing well or areas I can improve.

“He’s done it so he knows what it takes.

“He’s told me the stories of scoring in his first three games as a 16-year-old – one of them at McDiarmid Park! That’s pretty cool.”

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