St Johnstone manager Craig Levein is confident that Drey Wright will hit the ground running and give his team a new dimension during the Premiership survival battle.
The former Hibs winger hasn’t yet kicked a ball since Levein took over from Steven MacLean.
But, after six months out, he’s getting very close to a comeback.
And the Perth boss believes last season’s player of the year will be able to make an instant impact on his relegation-threatened team and bring a skillset Saints have been lacking.
“Drey is looking good,” said Levein.
“The fact he’s had the injury before and he’s an experienced player – even when they’ve been out for a long period of time they know what it’s all about when they come back in.
“It’s not like when a kid has been out for a few months and you’re worried if he can rediscover form.
“Once Drey is at the fitness level required I won’t have any hesitation in throwing him in.
“At that age you know when you’re fit and when you’re not fit. And you know how far you can push it during a game.
“I think he’ll be fine.
“I don’t expect any issues about waiting for him to hit form or anything like that. He’ll get straight back into it.”
Creative help
Levein added: “We don’t have another player like Drey in the squad.
“Even though we’ve only got five games left I’d like to see us get better at creating chances.
“He can perform like a winger when he’s higher up the park and like a wing-back.
“But we don’t really have a winger, apart from him. Getting Drey back will give us something different in that regard.”
Levein revealed that DJ Jaiyesimi and Dare Olufunwa are in contention to feature in the first of the post-split matches.
“DJ and Dare were out on the grass,” he said. “They might be available a week on Saturday.”
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