Steven MacLean has high hopes for young St Johnstone stars in the making, Max Kucheriavyi and Alex Ferguson.
And the Perth boss revealed that had loan rules not prevented it, they would already have been in his Premiership plans.
MacLean, who believes Taylor Steven and Liam Parker have also “progressed” over the last year, has been impressed by the performances of Kucherivayi at Falkirk and East Fife respectively.
And both have a chance of staking a first team claim at McDiarmid Park when they return for pre-season training later this month.
“Max and Alex have progressed this season,” said MacLean.
“If I could have played Max, he’d have been in my thoughts for the end of the season.
“He’s a good young player. So is Alex.
“Alex has trained more with us than Max because Max was a full-time loan.
“You could see the improvement in him. He’s been very good in training.
“I actually say to Alex (Cleland) and Liam (Craig): ‘Are you sure he’s not available?’”
MacLean added: “Max knows how I feel about him. The two of them have got real quality.
“It’ll be up to them in pre-season. They both need to kick on. You can’t rest.
“I know John (McGlynn) and Smudger (Paul Smith) very well and they spoke really highly of Max after his time with them at Falkirk and Fergie obviously did very well at East Fife.
“They’ve had their loans and now they need to try and play in the Premiership.”
The likes of Jackson Mylchreest have caught the eye in the age-group below.
MacLean said: “Regarding some of the under-18s, they’re probably not quite there yet but they’re not a million miles away.”
Pathway open
Cammy Ballantyne’s surprise selection for a key Premiership clash at Kilmarnock illustrated MacLean’s desire for there to be a clear route for academy players at McDiarmid Park.
“As long as I’m the manager, if you’re good enough you’ll play,” he said.
“There will be a pathway. There will always be a pathway.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re 16 or 22.
“How do you know when a player is ready? Sometimes you just have to let them go.
“It’s about dipping them in and out at the right times.
“I’ve seen it when I was a player. Jason Kerr was one. He’s a prime example.
“I used to think to myself ‘he’s ready’. He’d be kicking me in training and you could just see that it was his time.
“Pre-season is a big time for a young player and that will be the case for the likes of Taylor, Liam, Max and Alex.”
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