Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Connor Smith: As soon as Craig Levein and Andy Kirk came to St Johnstone, I wanted to join them

The three worked together at Hearts.

St Johnstone's Connor Smith in action against Motherwell.
St Johnstone's Connor Smith in action against Motherwell. Image: SNS.

The latest St Johnstone signing, Connor Smith, has described Andy Kirk as the biggest influence on his career so far.

And as soon as Kirk and Craig Levein took up work at McDiarmid Park, the former Hearts playmaker knew that he wanted to follow them to Perth.

“I had a few other clubs interested but I’d worked under the gaffer and Andy so it was no-brainer for me to come here,” said Smith, who made his debut as a second half substitute in Saints’ 1-1 draw with Motherwell on Saturday.

“When they were at Hearts they were honest with me.

“I knew that if I wasn’t doing well in games or training I wouldn’t play.

“I’ve always respected that.

“The gaffer is very good with man management and knows how to talk to players.

“Andy was class every day in training. More than anyone else, he was probably the one who has made me the player I am today.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’ve worked under some great managers but Kirky was right up there with the best.

“Even after he left Hearts he was always texting me.

Craig Levein and Andy Kirk.
Craig Levein and Andy Kirk. Image: SNS.

“To come here and work with the two of them is just perfect.

“Mak Kirk (Andy’s son) is at Hearts.

“I was talking to him and he was going back, talking to his dad.

“I knew that if things weren’t working out, he’d give me a phone call.

“After he got a job here I’d been saying to my dad that I’d love to come to St Johnstone.

“I’m delighted it’s happened.”

Loan after loan

Smith craved regular game-time at Tynecastle but he made the best of six loans.

“Every year was tough when I thought I was going to get a chance and then I went out on loan again,” he reflected.

“But, even though it wasn’t easy to hear that, the loans have been good for me.

“You need to be playing football.

“After I’d helped get Queen’s Park promoted, Hearts were saying ‘come back and you’ll play’.

“I did get involved, including games in Europe, which I was delighted about.

“But after that I went to Hamilton.

“I thought I did well there even though the club got relegated so it was tough to be told I was going on loan again (to Scunthorpe).

“I’d been involved in all the games in pre-season. That was when I knew that my time was up with Hearts.”

Fatigue factor

Smith knows that the weekend display wasn’t an accurate reflection of his new team’s ability.

And he’s confident they’ll show that in Dingwall on Saturday.

“I kind of knew I was coming here by Wednesday so I watched the Aberdeen game with my dad,” he said.

“The boys were good that night and fought back for a point.

“You could see we were a bit fatigued at the end of the Motherwell match – that’s going to happen when it’s Wednesday-Saturday.

“Next week will be different – we’ll be fresh and right at it against Ross County.”

Connor Smith.
Connor Smith. Image: SNS.

Smith’s versatility is a big asset but which position would he choose as his favourite?

“That’s such a hard question for me,” he admitted. “Because I have played left, right, 10, centre-mid and wing-back as well.

“I probably prefer driving from midfield and creating chances, scoring goals as a number eight and working hard going the other way.

“That’s where I grew up playing through the age-groups and with Scotland.”

Conversation