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New St Johnstone playmaker Matt Smith will take risks on the ball unlike many midfielders, says Steven MacLean

The 23-year-old won't play it safe.

St Johnstone midfielder Matt Smith playing for Wales against Albania.
St Johnstone midfielder Matt Smith playing for Wales against Albania. Image: Shutterstock.

New St Johnstone signing, Matt Smith’s eye for a killer pass sets him apart from a lot of young midfielders, according to Steven MacLean.

Sideways and backwards might keep individual stats high for footballers in the modern game.

But it’s the Welsh international’s willingness to think ‘big risk, big reward’ that attracted MacLean when he found out MK Dons would be willing to let him move on.

“You just need to look at the clubs he’s been at and the number of caps he’s earned already for Wales to know that he’s got really good pedigree,” said the Perth boss.

“And he’s played a lot of games at a good level.

“He passes the ball forward. He’s always got an eye on trying to unlock defences.

“That’s something a lot of young midfielders don’t do these days.

“We’ll get a good look at him this week because he only trained with us on Friday.

“He played in a bounce game on Monday, which was good for us to get more of a look at where he’s at and for him to see how we want to play.”

The end of the road at MK Dons

MK Dons manager, Graham Alexander admitted Smith was a man in demand with a year left on his contract.

And MacLean is hoping that McDiarmid Park will be the perfect environment to get the best out of the 23-year-old, who spent nearly a decade with Manchester City and has won a title in the Netherlands. 

“Sometimes players don’t suit certain teams and the way a manager wants to play,” he said.

“We want to get him back to the level he was performing at to get into his national team and go to the World Cup.”

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