St Johnstone’s three loan signings all hit the ground running at Celtic Park.
And manager, Steven MacLean, believes that the big club experience Jay Turner-Cooke, Dara Costelloe and Luke Robinson have accumulated in England will stand them in good stead north of the border.
“I was delighted with how the new lads acquitted themselves,” said MacLean.
“Going to places like Celtic Park is what probably convinced them to come to us so it was good for them to get that in early.
“It was a good starting point for them, although they’ve all been around big clubs themselves.
Debut✅,hard fought point💪🏻,excited for next week💙 #SJFC pic.twitter.com/Qih3d5IbbA
— Jay Turner-Cooke (@Jayturnercooke7) August 26, 2023
“Jay has come from Newcastle, which is a huge club. Dara has played for Burnley in the Championship.
“Luke (Robinson) has also played a season for Wigan, so he knows what it’s all about.”
‘Energy, intensity and work-rate’
The summer recruits who have been with Saints a bit longer than the weekend debutants fall into the same category, according to MacLean.
“Sam (McClelland) was with Chelsea so has been around a massive club and being from Northern Ireland he’ll know about Scottish football anyway,” MacLean added.
“Matty (Smith) is a Wales international so he’s played in high pressure games.
“So while the age of the players we’ve brought in so far has been young, they all have experience of first team football and being around top level football.
“They all understood what was required of them last weekend and I’m sure with the result we got they enjoyed it.
“I felt they all brought an energy, intensity and work-rate to the team.
“They also carried out what we wanted them to do, which is important because we worked hard on that.
“As a manager that was a big thing because it showed they can take on board the information and carry out what’s being asked of them.”
Considine and McGowan
Meanwhile, Andy Considine will be fit to face Dundee, MacLean reported.
The Perth boss also confirmed that Ryan McGowan was omitted from the match-day squad at Parkhead for football reasons.
“Andy is going to be fine,” he said. “It was just tightness. Everyone else was OK.
“Ryan was left out of the squad. He wasn’t injured.
“You need to make decisions and that was my decision.”
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