Theo Bair is feeling the love at Motherwell.
And the Canadian international believes he could have been a St Johnstone success story had the same been the case at McDiarmid Park.
The 24-year-old scored the Fir Park side’s equaliser against his old club on Saturday.
His six goals and regular game-time are a stark contract to the impact Bair made with Saints over 18 months after a big money move from Vancouver Whitecaps.
The powerful forward acknowledges that circumstances played a part in him not hitting the ground running in Perth and subsequently being released last summer.
But he also identified management “faith” as a key factor.
“It was unfortunate the way things ended with the club here,” said Bair.
“I wish I’d played a bit more but I guess that’s football, isn’t it.
“It did feel good to score.
“I showed up every day. I wasn’t injured. I trained very hard and I was available all the time.
“Anybody who saw training would have seen that.
“It was a bit of an unfortunate situation that I didn’t get playing time. It’s as simple as that, I think.”
‘A bit of faith’
On Kettlewell’s role in his improvement with Motherwell, Bair added: “He had many conversations with me and basically told me what I was good at – which was exactly what I thought as well.
“To have his confidence – and a staff who really believed in me, wanted to push me and see me do well – was definitely a big part of me moving to Motherwell.
“I’m reaping the benefits of them believing in me.
“At times (with Saints) it was difficult because of the spells the team were going through, which I understood.
“But I do think that maybe with a bit of faith I could have done well.”
Conversation