St Johnstone striker Adama Sidibeh has had a long time to stew over his moment of madness at Tannadice.
And one of the senior pros who has passed on his wisdom during six weeks of frustration on the sidelines for the Gambia international believes Sidibeh will be back to his explosive best in no time.
The 26-year-old’s four-game suspension following his double red against Dundee United is now over.
Nicky Clark is confident a lesson has been learned and if the quality of his training is anything to go by, Sidibeh will be back with a bang at Ibrox on Sunday.
“We’ve spoken to Adama,” said the veteran forward.
“He’s come into a different kind of environment and level of football than he’s been used to.
“He’s 26 but a young 26. He’s still got a lot to learn and there are good, experienced boys up there who will help him.
“He does listen to you when you speak to him, which is a big thing in football.
“Centre-halves, in particular, will try to wind him up. They’ll have seen what happened at Tannadice.
“Adama needs to show that he’s learned his lesson.
“He’s an exciting player, as you’ve seen. He’s got bags of pace and that frightens the defence and he can score.
“He was brought in for his goals and the ones he scored towards the end of last season were huge for us.
“Obviously, we’ve missed him over the last few weeks, but he’s good to go.
“He’s worked really hard in training during the weeks when he’s not been able to play on a Saturday and now he’s back.
“He’s looked great in training and just scored an unbelievable goal on Wednesday. Hopefully he keeps one for Sunday as well.”
Kimpioka also available
Benji Kimpioka is also back from suspension for the Rangers game.
“Benji had a great start to the season,” said Clark. “The two of them did, to be fair, scoring goals.
“His sending off was more a frustration one rather than anything else.
“He held his hands up right after the game and apologised to the boys for letting that happen.
“But he’s also ready to go and has been training well so I’m looking forward to seeing the two of them in action again.”
It’s not just Sidibeh and Kimpioka who have been given a fresh start.
That applies to the whole squad now that Simo Valakari has been appointed as the new head coach.
“Everybody’s back to square one and on the same level,” said Clark.
“We all have to perform on the training pitch to get noticed and let the manager see what we can do.
“We’ve had a really good couple of sessions – tough but everybody was on it.
“Hopefully there are exciting times ahead.
“We had a good meeting about the way he wants to play. Hopefully it works and we get success from it.
“But that will come from hard work.
“We were trying to work out who has had the most managers. I’m right up there but I think Graham Carey has just done me!
“When someone new comes in it’s a wee boost that lifts everybody and brings a new kind of energy about the place.
“It’s not just been the usual merry-go-round in Scottish football where somebody loses a job and they’re in another one a few weeks later.
“It’s somebody who nobody really knows. But, looking at his career so far, it’s been a successful one in Europe.
“It’s good for a player to see that he’s won trophies at previous clubs.
“That’s not me saying we’re going to win a trophy now.
“But I think he’ll be very good and the way he’s talking, it should be exciting.”
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