St Johnstone manager Craig Levein is swithering over whether to include a stitched-up Ryan McGowan in his team for Saturday’s clash with St Mirren.
The defender was left with a nasty foot wound after the Perth side’s last game against Rangers, when Connor Goldson caught him as he attempted to shoot.
McGowan has been one of Saints’ most consistent performers since Levein took over from Steven MacLean.
But, as important as this weekend’s trip to Paisley is in the battle to stay in the Premiership, the McDiarmid Park boss has to keep in mind the bigger picture.
“Gowser got booked for somebody putting a stud mark into his ankle!” said Levein.
“How that has happened, I really don’t know.
“He’s had stitches to the wound and it’s recommended you leave them for around 10 days.
“Of course he wants to play.
“But we’ve got two games coming up fairly quickly after Saturday and I can’t afford to lose anybody.
“I’m in the balance about whether to use Gowser or not.”
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Kerr Smith made his first start at Dens Park a fortnight ago and is one of two obvious contenders to replace McGowan.
“I thought he did OK against Dundee,” said Levein.
“We’ve got Kerr and Dare (Olufunwa) who are pushing to play.
“Both of them are maintaining good levels in training.
“Gowser is a good, experienced player who has done well for us recently but the drop-off isn’t enormous.”
The starting point for Saints in Paisley is making sure there’s no drop-off in the commitment shown when Rangers came to town.
“I couldn’t fault the players’ efforts last week,” said Levein.
“Rangers having one effort on goal in the first half, which they scored from, shows that.
“I’ve faced Rangers dozens of times and I don’t think I’ve ever had a first half where they’ve had as few shots on goal and crosses as last Sunday.
“Everything was really low.
“And most of Rangers’ positive stats came from the last 20 minutes when we changed our set-up to go for it.
“We’ll continue to fight and do whatever we can to stay in this league – which is what it’s about this season.”
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