St Johnstone boss Simo Valakari has delivered his verdict on Stephen Duke-McKenna and Jonathan Svedberg’s debut performances.
Swedish midfielder Svedberg started the Scottish Cup win over Hamilton Accies, while Duke-McKenna came on as a half-time substitute.
Both caught the eye in different ways as Saints booked their place in the quarter finals.
And the manager has offered his assessment of each player’s performance.
Stephen Duke-McKenna
“I was very happy with him,” said Valakari.
“We have our structure and way we want to play, but within that you also need some unpredictability sometimes.
“You don’t want to be a team who is easy to read, so having a wildcard like him, someone who can do his own thing to create, is important.
“After seeing him in training and in the Hamilton game, we now know if we can get him to isolate the defender and attack him, he will make things happen.
“We know he can beat a player then cross, or he can come back inside and play passes.
“How he’s going to do it, no-one knows!
“But I like that because it’s not easy for the opposition to play against.
“I played with players like that in my own career and, as long as they still defend and put in the work, a team enjoys having them.
“In [Stephen’s] own words, he said he likes to excite the crowd and I think he does that.
“What I liked the most about him last weekend was that he was very eager to show everyone what kind of player he is.
“Some things for him didn’t work and there were a few mistakes, but he never put his head down once.
“When it didn’t come off, he just got back to it again and asked for the ball the next time.
“That’s what I wanted to see because nobody is going to get every action absolutely right.
“The most important thing is keeping going and doing everything within the structure of the team. He did that.”
Jonathan Svedberg
“We didn’t have a set plan with Jonathan to be on the pitch for sixty minutes,” said Valakari.
“He’s not played for a few months because of the season in Sweden ending in November and then he spent a week unwell after arriving here.
“So we just decided he would play for as long as he could and I think he could have gone beyond what we gave him.
“But I just wanted to get him off rather than push him much further.
“I was very pleased, I think everyone saw a player who has played a lot of matches at a high level.
“His understanding of the game, his positioning on the park and the way he is with the ball will all make us a better team.
“He is an easy player to play with because he’s so aware of what’s going on around him.
“Jonathan is mostly in the right position, he’s always available and he doesn’t turn the ball over in silly ways.
“He can play a few positions in midfield, we had him as a second number six but he can go box-to-box and finish chances as well.
“We saw this all in the training from him, on Saturday we saw it on the pitch but Scottish football is different to what he’s been used to.
“So going to Kilmarnock will be a step up again for him and he will need to be ready for it.”
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