Simo Valakari hasn’t given up hope of making one last addition to his St Johnstone squad.
The Perth head coach is keeping his finger on the pulse of the free agent situation, with Scandinavia arguably the likeliest area where a post-January transfer window opportunity might crop up.
However, he is well aware that even if a suitable player (striker) comes on to his radar, there are in-built problems with signing someone at this late stage of the season.
“Of course, you always keep your eyes open,” said Valakari, who recruited eight players in January.
“We found Bozo (Mikulic) and Barry (Douglas) from the free agent market but it’s difficult to get the right players at this time of the season.
“You always look and see who is out there.
“There are a lot of players in Scandinavia who are practising with teams, doing a pre-season looking to get a contract.
“Maybe with some of them, things won’t go the way they want. They might want to try something different in the end.
“Those players have been training so that helps, but it’s very difficult to sign players now who haven’t done anything this season.”
Zach Mitchell
Meanwhile, Valakari’s last signing of the January transfer window, Zach Mitchell, is in contention to start against Hearts on Sunday.
The on-loan Charlton Athletic defender caught Valakari’s eye as a second half substitute in difficult circumstances during the recent defeat to Kilmarnock.
“Zach has done really well since coming in,” said the Finn. “I like his enthusiasm.
“He is very much in my thoughts to get game-time.
“He is a good player, very smart and physically, he is very strong.
“It’s never easy joining a team on the final day of the transfer window and coming in when there has been a lot of changes.
“But he has done well, and he could have played more already. I am very happy to have him here.”
The phrase “season-defining” has been used for Saints’ next week of football.
But Valakari isn’t looking any further in the distance than Hearts on Sunday.
“We have three games in six days coming up,” he said. “So we have to embrace that.
“There is nothing to fear, let’s just go out and play our football.
“You get these moments within a season, and you have to make the most of them.
“You need to enjoy the pressure of being a football player, you need to feel it inside you and know what you are competing for.
“People will be telling us it’s the week which will define our season and things like that – you’ll feel it from the fans as well.
“It’s our job as a team to concentrate on our performance, do better with the winning actions in the games and give ourselves a chance.
“As always, we will take it game by game. We focus on the Hearts match first then we will think about the Ross County one after that.
“Obviously it can be a big week for us, but we have to be calm.
“If we win on Sunday, we don’t get carried away for the next game and if we don’t win, we approach the Ross County game the same as we always would.
“That is how I see it.”
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