St Johnstone boss, Simo Valakari, has revealed there is no end in sight for Uche Ikpeazu’s injury nightmare.
The former Hearts man has gone under the knife for a THIRD time since joining the Perth club in June.
That makes it three more operations than appearances for the 29-year-old target man.
And Valakari, who had talked-up the prospect of Ikpeazu making his debut last month, is understandably reluctant to predict or judge when, or indeed if, he will be available for selection this season.
“He has not been on the training field,” the Finn reported. “Not even close.
“They needed to go inside the knee again to check everything is OK.
“It’s sad for the boy and sad for us.
“I said two months ago that he would be like a January signing. Obviously, that hasn’t happened.
“So, I can’t put a timeline on it.”
Ikpeazu apart, Valakari has a full squad to choose from for Saturday’s Scottish Cup last clash with Championship strugglers, Hamilton Accies.
The McDiarmid Park head coach wants to keep hold of the mentality that has seen Saints win three games in a row even though, for the first time in months, they are strong favourites to emerge victorious.
“In the league everybody has been saying that we were down,” he said. “So, it’s been a case of ‘nothing to lose, let’s go and play’.
“We need to be ready for Hamilton thinking that they have nothing to lose in this game.
“I want to make sure that we keep that mindset as well.
“We don’t have anything to defend. We both have the same opportunity and goal – win to go into the next round. Nothing to lose, everything to gain.
“In cup competitions it’s all level.
“If we think for one moment that we are something that we are not then we will be in trouble.
“Yes, I have said it all the time – we have a good group of players.
“But if we are not 100% physically or mentally it would be dangerous.
“The message to our players and fans is that we cannot get frustrated or angry if our opponents have chances or put some passes together.
“And we cannot get frustrated or angry if there are spells when we don’t create chances or put some passes together.
“We always need to think of the next action.”
Debut possibilities
If Daniels Balodis, Jonathan Svedberg, Zach Mitchell or Stephen Duke-McKenna are selected to start, it won’t be with a view to preparing them for the resumption of the Premiership campaign.
“There are many aspects to picking a team, but I never think about the game after,” said Valakari.
“As we have seen, you never know what is round the corner in football. There could be injuries or the flu coming back.
“I’m only thinking about this game.
“The new players are all available for selection.
“I can tell them about Scottish football, but they have to experience it for themselves.
“They are taking it as a challenge and are as ready as they can be.”
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