Graham Carey will be a ‘big player’ for St Johnstone again as Callum Davidson reveals Nicky Clark chances of facing old club Dundee United

Graham Carey will be a “big player” for St Johnstone in the last few months of the season, according to manager Callum Davidson.

The former Plymouth Argyle and CSKA Sofia man suffered a mini-form slump after Saints returned from the World Cup break.

He was substituted at half-time in the defeat to Livingston last month and then benched for the subsequent three fixtures.

But the Irishman was back in the starting line-up for the Perth side’s McDiarmid Park clash with Celtic.

And Davidson was impressed with his playmaker’s contribution in that contest.

“Everyone has little dips in a season but what I love about Graham is that he never shies away from taking the ball,” said the Saints boss.

“He’s someone who always tries to make things happen.

“Even when he was having a spell when he wasn’t as good as he had been he never ducked away from getting involved.

“He’s got the courage and belief in his ability to get on the ball and try to help the team.

“That’s the kind of attitude you want. You need players who are willing to step up and try things.

“Sometimes they won’t come off but you have to have the bravery to want the ball.

“I thought Graham was very good against Celtic and he’ll be a big player for us between now and the end of the season.”

Mini-season starts at Tannadice

Saints will open up a 10-point gap on Dundee United if they win Saturday’s game at Tannadice.

And they’ll be backed by well over 1,000 fans in their attempts to do so.

“The support we take to Tannadice is always fantastic and this weekend is a huge game for us with regards to our season,” said Davidson.

“I’ve been telling the players we have a mini-season now. We have a run of games we want to pick up as many points as we can and see where it takes us.

“The first aim, obviously, is to get as far away from the bottom of the league as possible and then look up after that.

“We had a tough spell with a lot of games against the Old Firm but we are through that now and we want to put a run of results together.

“But to pick up the points we want we have to keep doing the right things.

“If we can go on the kind of run we had before the World Cup break we can put ourselves in a good position.”

Nicky Clark is an injury doubt ahead of the game against his old club, having missed the Celtic defeat with a back issue.

“Nicky’s back is still causing him problems so we will have to see what it’s like later this week,” said Davidson.