Matt Smith had become “a little bit lost” in his football career by the time he signed for St Johnstone.
And now that the 24-year-old has put down roots in Perth, he’d be keen to extend his stay.
The Wales international has been one of Saints’ best players this season, building on an impressive first Premiership campaign after being signed by Steven MacLean.
Excited by the upturn in the team’s form under Simo Valakari, and the style of play the new head coach is implementing, Smith would be delighted if the McDiarmid Park contract which runs out in the summer isn’t his last.
“I really love it here,” he said. “I love the club.
“They’ve been so welcoming to me. Because obviously when I came here, I was a little bit lost in football, in terms of having not played in a while.
“I’m enjoying every day. The lads are great. It’s a really nice environment for me to come and play football.
“My family’s up here now and we’re settled.
“We’re enjoying life. It’s a lot more chilled out. We can do things more together as a family. I really enjoy the way of life up here.
“I haven’t heard anything. I’m just focusing on the next game. But, yeah, I do really enjoy it up here.
“For me it feels like home.
“I’ve been around a lot of places and I was looking for somewhere I could settle down.
“I want to grow with the football club. It’s a perfect opportunity for me to do that here.”
Football style that suits
When Saints were on a bad run of form and Craig Levein was sacked as a consequence, many would have expected the new boss to adopt a route one approach to fighting their way out of trouble.
Valakari has taken the opposite approach, with playmakers Smith and Jason Holt at the heart of a possession game that had yielded back-to-back league victories.
“He wants us to stick to that style of play,” said Smith.
“It’s difficult if the ball keeps going over your head and you want to get on the ball.
“But in the last two games, I feel like we’ve got in really good areas because of how we’ve built up the pitch.
“I think our final third entries and other stuff has been a lot higher. And a lot of that comes from playing out from the back and getting into little pockets.
“It’s been nice to get on the ball a lot more. It’s been really enjoyable.”
On Holt, Smith said: “I knew from playing against him last year that he’s got real good quality and his intensity off the ball is what we were needing in that area.
“He trains the way that he plays. That’s something you love to have in the dressing room.”
Third time lucky
Smith has bad memories of his two trips to Paisley last season – both defeats, one of which cost MacLean his job.
Matching St Mirren physically will be key to success in Wednesday night’s game.
“The first one was sort of a welcome to Scottish football for me in a way,” he recalled.
“We were out-muscled and out-fought.
“We haven’t shown our best there before but this is a new group and there’s a lot more belief within the changing room.
“We can go there and get a result and that’s what we’re thinking about.”
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