Drey Wright has stretched the “versatile” description of a footballer to new extremes with St Johnstone this season.
A winger becoming a starting centre-back is an almost unheard of positional flip.
The Englishman has taken every role change in his stride and will be a key man for Saints again on Monday night when the Perth side face Livingston in their Scottish Cup quarter-final.
The main thing for Wright is getting to Hampden Park.
And he views his movement across the pitch under Simo Valakari as a show of faith on the part of his head coach.
“I’ve not ruled out goalkeeper yet,” joked the former Hibs man. “We’ll see how Fish (Andy Fisher) gets on in training before the game!
“Listen, if the manager picks me for a big game like this I’ll be delighted – wherever that is.
“It’s been like being inside a washing machine these last couple of months.
“Training through the week builds up familiarity with whatever position the manager wants me to play in, whether that’s on the left-hand side, the right-hand side or at centre-half.
“It’s a sign of the trust the manager has in me that he feels I can do a job in a number of different roles.
“That’s something I always try to repay.
“He apologised during one game, sending me to another position in the middle of it but I really don’t mind and I take it as a compliment.”
What’s going on?!
Wright added: “I’ve had a few messages from former team-mates – even going as far back as boys I used to play with in my youth teams.
“They’ve seen the formation and where I’ve been in it and have been thinking: ‘What’s going on up there?!’
“That’s been fun.
“But I have genuinely enjoyed it.
“I’m my own harshest critic but how I play individually is never more important than how the team plays and the result we get.
“If I haven’t been at my best but the team wins, I’m happy.
“It is nice to know I’ve been contributing to our form improving.”
Livingston away became known as one of the biggest character tests in the Premiership.
And that hasn’t changed for Saints now that their opponents are a Championship side.
Wright will make sure the Perth players new to Scottish football know what’s coming their way on Livi’s artificial pitch.
Be ready
“We had a taster of it at Kilmarnock a couple of weeks ago,” he said.
“The new boys maybe weren’t expecting the way they came after us, on a surface they know so well.
“I’ve never had anything other than a tough game against a David Martindale team, whether that’s home or away.
“We know that, and we’ll try and get that across to the new boys.
“The Kilmarnock game was a lesson because this one will be quite similar.
“I’ve had cold, midweek nights there and hot days when you feel the heat coming off the surface.
“I’ve played in a game at the end of last season that we should have won 5-0 and ended up getting beat and gone there with Hibs and won 4-0.
“Whatever the result, there’s never been an easy game.
“Imposing ourselves on them is the biggest thing – earning the right to play and dealing with the challenges they’ll pose us.
“This is a big opportunity.
“We definitely believe we can progress if we approach the tie in the right way and go about our business as we have done a lot of times in the last few weeks.”
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