New dad Nicky Clark is hoping to mark the birth of his daughter with a goal and a win in St Johnstone’s Friday night clash with Hibs.
The Perth striker has had a spring in his step since baby Georgie was delivered last weekend.
And there might be a special goal celebration if he can find the net at Easter Road.
“It’s in the moment,” said Clark.
“If I do it, I do it. If I don’t, I’ll probably get slaughtered by my missus!
“It’s great, getting home after training every day and seeing her gives me that extra motivation to go and keep doing well for her.
“Hopefully I get a wee goal for her at Easter Road. That would be great.
👏A debut goal for Nicky Clark as St Johnstone beat St Mirren 3-0.
Here are all the goals from McDiarmid Park⬇️ pic.twitter.com/NejkwsFglR
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) September 3, 2022
“To score on my debut a few weeks ago was amazing. It makes it a little bit easier as a striker to get a goal so early on.
“Hopefully I can kick on now and get a few more. I’ve been frustrated not to get a couple more in the last few games.
“But I don’t worry if I go without scoring for a few weeks because I’m always hopeful they will come along.”
Updates from Sandy
Clark revealed that dad Sandy, a former Saints manager, was keeping him updated with the action from Livingston on Saturday afternoon while he was with partner, Gillian, at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.
“We went in about half nine-ish in the morning,” he said. “We weren’t too sure – it was a case of might be, might not be.
“They did a few checks and by midday we were still a wee bit unsure.
“But 15 minutes later, I texted him back and told him: ‘It’s happening, so I’ll be here until the baby arrives’.
“I tried to get St Johnstone TV but the signal wasn’t great. I checked updates but my dad was watching it in the house, so he was able to keep in contact and let me know what was happening.
“Georgie was born at half 10 on Saturday night so it was a long day, obviously more so for Gillian, who was amazing.
“That’s a great feeling and it’s a relief. You’re always on edge, if I’m training here I’m not on my phone and I was hoping my partner was alright.
“It’s always in the back of my mind hoping everything was alright. But everyone is doing great so it puts my mind at rest a wee bit and I can put more concentration back into playing and scoring goals and winning games.”
Looking up the table
Saints had a chance to open up a double figures gap on the bottom team in the league when they travelled to Kilmarnock earlier this month.
Three defeats later they’re just one point ahead of Killie, Dundee United and Ross County.
“The confidence and mood is still great among the boys,” said Clark. “We know we’ve got a good team.
“Our performances since I came here show that we can go and compete with the teams at the top so we need to make sure we can get into the top six and push on.
“We want to get ourselves away from where are just now and that comes down to hard work, team work and getting three points.”
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