There will be no quick-fire rescheduling of St Johnstone’s postponed game against Motherwell, Steven MacLean has confirmed.
Both clubs had hoped that they could play the Premiership match this Tuesday.
However, the decision has been made by Police Scotland and the football governing bodies that there will need to be a longer delay in view of the recovery operation required in the east of the country following Storm Babet.
“We had everything done for Motherwell and were raring to go,” said MacLean, whose Saturday afternoon was spent watching the Kilmarnock v Livingston match.
“We tried to get the game scheduled for Tuesday – both Motherwell and us wanted that.
“But with everything going on, the police and football authorities felt it wasn’t right.
“We didn’t know if the emergency services and police would be able to do the game.
“So we don’t know at this time when it will be played.
“It will be all systems go for St Mirren now. We will have a normal week and we’ll be prepared and ready to go for that and hopefully get our first win of the season.”
Correct decision on St Johnstone v Motherwell
MacLean backed the early postponement call.
“We are obviously really disappointed that the game was off because we wanted to play.
“But, in the grand scheme of things, when you see people losing their life and the things that have been happening it is the right thing to do.
Cold one this morning 🥶☔️ pic.twitter.com/bC9XloZ9cU
— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) October 19, 2023
“It just makes sense calling it off.
“You’ve got supporters travelling and a red warning, there are a lot more important things than football.
“The most important thing is families are safe and the emergency services can get everything sorted and it works out alright for everyone.
“As much as we want to play football, fulfil the game, get a win and have the supporters there, we understand the situation.”
McDiarmid Park pitch perfect
The resilience of the McDiarmid Park playing surface has been the positive to take from a game-less week.
“The pitch was absolutely perfect,” he said. “It was in great order.
“There wasn’t even a mark, which is testament to the work we got done on it.
“That augurs well going forward into the winter. Hopefully it holds up and we think it will do.
“We’ve spent a bit of money on it.
“It’s the same with the training pitch. That was playable too and we managed to train Thursday and Friday.
“The only thing that caused us havoc was the wind.”
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