Ali Crawford was St Johnstone’s super sub in the Highlands.
And now he hopes he’ll be their super starter at Celtic Park.
Following on from his late assist for Nicky Clark’s equaliser against St Mirren, Crawford is putting together an impressive off-the-bench body of work to catch his manager’s eye.
The competition is fierce for the playmaker roles in Callum Davidson’s side.
And the former Hamilton Accies man is doing all that he can to earn himself a run in a Saints team that is moving up the Premiership table.
“I’ve scored two in one game quite a lot but have never quite managed to get the hat-trick,” said Crawford.
🔼 St Johnstone are up to fifth after coming from behind to beat Ross County ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/d0rkLaxrQu
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) December 17, 2022
“That’s the first time I’ve come off the bench and scored two.
“It’s a good feeling to get the first two goals of the season and to do it the way we did and get the points was the most important thing.
“After we got the first goal we were thinking it’s 10 men and there’s still plenty of time to get a winner. It was a game to be won.
“The two goals couldn’t have fallen kinder for me eight yards out. I’d back myself to score nine times out of 10 from that range.”
Dog eat dog
Crawford, whose only league start of the season was in the 2-1 defeat to Kilmarnock, added: “The only thing you can do is be ready to impact the game when you do come on and I did that.
“So hopefully it stands me in good stead for the up and coming games.
“It would be good to start against Celtic. I want to start every game. So I’m ready to go when called on.
“But it’s a big squad and dog eat dog. If you don’t play as well as you can there is somebody ready to take your jersey away from you and that’s the position I am in at the moment.
“I want to get in the starting 11 and I have done myself a favour.”
There was an argument that the World Cup break came at the wrong time for Saints but Saturday’s Dingwall performance suggested it has merely paused their Premiership progress rather than derailed it.
“Four wins and two draws is very good form,” said Crawford.
“To come back and be a goal down and then get three points carries on the momentum.
“We’ve got a great group in the dressing room and we’ve shown quite a lot this season that we’ll fight to the end.
“There is nothing stopping us from carrying on, although next week is going to be a tough game obviously.
“We’ll go there with confidence.”
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