Just because it’s been said so often but hasn’t yet happened doesn’t make it any less true.
Cammy MacPherson knows that avoiding injury is the key to him elevating his importance to St Johnstone.
“It’s massive for my career,” said the former St Mirren midfielder, who is set to return to Ibrox on Saturday, the ground where he sustained his last serious injury on day three of the Premiership campaign.
“I’ve probably been interviewed about four times and said ‘I need a run of games’ and then it doesn’t happen for me.
“I’m just looking to do all I can to stay fit on and off the pitch. I need games to show what I can do.”
MacPherson had to come off early in the clash with Rangers back in August after a run-of-the-mill pass saw him tear a tendon in his thigh.
“That one was the worst yet,” he said. “Especially with the length of time I was out injured.
“It was heart-breaking.
“But it gave me time to work on other things.
“I’ve been working in the gym for the past four months and I feel that’s helped me for coming back.
“Instead of sitting around feeling sorry for myself I had to focus on something else, which was getting in good shape in the gym.
“I feel ready for a run in the team now. My body feels as strong as it’s ever been. Now I need to work on my match fitness. You can train as much as you want but you need games.”
MacPherson impressed against Rangers in the Scottish Cup last weekend, with Dan Phillips his central midfield partner.
For the first time in 2023, there was dynamism in that area of the pitch.
“Dan and I are both good enough players, we’re young and have good energy about us,” said MacPherson.
“I think we used that positively against Rangers and hopefully we can match-up against them again this time.
“I wouldn’t class myself as a youngster any more. I’m 24 – so maybe an old youngster!
“I’ve played a fair amount of games and have a bit of experience in the league.
“Dan has also played first team football down south, so it wasn’t a case of us just being thrown straight into it.”
Going toe to toe again
St Johnstone’s formation and tactics took them close to forcing Rangers into extra-time.
Ending a six-game losing run is now the aim.
“It felt as though we were solid and I don’t think Rangers went through us and cut us open,” said MacPherson.
“We tried to send them down the sides and defended well. We limited them to only a few chances.
“When we had the ball we got our foot on it and played some nice stuff, so it worked.
“We played the last five or six games with the back three and it wasn’t working for us.
“So it was a case of trying to change it and see what happens.
“It doesn’t affect the midfielders as much as the defenders, other than you have a winger high and a full-back so there’s always an out ball for you.
“That was the big difference I felt in there.”
"Tavernier to the rescue!" 🎙
St. Johnstone give Rangers a big scare but their captain just managed to clear it away from his goal line 👀#STJRAN | #ScottishCup pic.twitter.com/S6LQ4KlIPy
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) January 21, 2023
He added: “We could have got an equaliser at the end last week. I think the positives from our performance outweighed the negatives.
“We want to move forward from here and get going again.
“Hopefully we can get something from Rangers, whether that’s a point or three points.
“We showed last Saturday that we can go toe to toe and play good football.
“If we get chances we need to be clinical.”
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