Kyle Cameron gave Simo Valakari his most satisfying experience since he took over as St Johnstone boss.
But a superb performance from the on-loan Notts County man in testing circumstances against Aberdeen is no guarantee that he will keep his place for Saturday’s visit of St Mirren.
Cameron’s readiness to step in for Bozo Mikulic after the Croatian picked up an injury in the Pittodrie warm-up showed Valakari that the principles he is trying ingrain in his Saints squad are more than just words.
However, the Finn treats every team selection as a blank piece of paper, meaning a rapid return to fitness for Mikulic could mean a rapid return to the bench for Cameron.
“Kyle took his opportunity,” said Valakari. “Big credit to him. He was the leader of our backline in the game.
“It was a statement about how I want my players to behave.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re in the starting team or not – you prepare yourself and if the opportunity comes, you are ready for it.
“Kyle was ready.
“I said straight after the match how important it was. Normally I don’t speak too much about individuals because it’s all about the team performance.
“But this was about one of our key values – and values define what type of team we will be.
“It’s easy to talk about them but it’s the actions that matter.
“I was so happy – it’s the most happy I have been.
“If Kyle hadn’t been ready, we would have lost. In this league, at this level, if you’re not prepared and right, game day is too late.
“If you’re negative in the days before the match, of course you are not ready.
“I saw Kyle during the week – he was doing as I wanted him to do as an opponent for our strikers in training so we could prepare our starting line-up to be as good as possible.”
On who will start the St Mirren game as Jack Sanders’ central defensive partner, Valakari added: “There is more to picking a team than just saying ‘if you play well, you keep the jersey’.
“I always try to pick the best starting line-up for that individual match.
“All a player can control is train well, play well and the rest is out of his hands.”
Mikulic and Andre Raymond will both be available to face the Buddies.
“Andre trained today and Bozo has trained for a couple of days,” Valakari reported.
“Because of the difficult weather conditions last week, we had been changing from a very hard artificial surface to soft grass.
“The big man felt some sharp pain in his calf and he couldn’t move it.
“If my players tell me they can’t play, I 100% trust them.
“Big credit to our medical department.
“It wasn’t something with the muscle. It was to do with the nerve and they were able to release it at the start of the week.”
Saints will be without Sven Sprangler, who picked up his sixth booking at Pittodrie.
“Of course, we have seen how well Sven has played,” said Valakari.
“I’m disappointed for the boy because I can’t remember him making a bad tackle.
“Actually, the one he got his yellow card for at Aberdeen was Champions League level defending.
“It was a brilliant example of how you stop the transition of an opponent in open field – winning the ball with good body contact.
“I feel that it should have been applauded rather than got a yellow card.
“I’ve told Sven I would obviously rather have him available but we’re not going to waste anytime thinking about missing him.
“We have got alternatives – Aaron (Essel), Lewis (Neilson) and other different options.”
A torrid 20 minutes after half-time cost Saints dearly the last time they faced St Mirren.
The players now have a chance to show they have taken their manager’s post-match observations on board.
“I hope we have learned since then that every action matters,” said Valakari.
“Can I get control of the ball for us? Can I get a free-kick for us?
“In that game we won the ball but straightaway we gave it back or put it out for a throw-in. With a bit more quality we can breathe and go again ourselves.
“If a spell lasts as long as it did in that game it’s almost impossible to defend.”
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