St Johnstone boss, Simo Valakari, has revealed that Adama Sidibeh’s observation of Ramadan had impacted his “energy levels”.
And that led to the striker not featuring against Hibs at the weekend.
Over the Islamic holy month Muslim footballers have been fasting, meaning they abstained from consuming any food or drink during daylight hours.
Valakari watched Sidibeh struggle in the midweek closed-doors match against Queen’s Park, which prompted his decision not to give the Gambian international game-time at Easter Road.
“Adama has been observing Ramadan, so it was difficult to play him last weekend,” the Finn explained.
“He has struggled with his energy levels and in the bounce game we played last week we had to take him off.
“It hasn’t been easy for him.
“He is the kind of player who is all about explosive energy and bursts of pace.
“Adama uses so much energy during matches. He is so powerful, so when you don’t have fuel in your body you suffer.
“We spoke to him a lot about it and of course we respect these things, so it was best we didn’t use him at Hibs.
“Now it’s over, he is getting back to normal and is eager to go this weekend.”
Injury latest
Valakari is also optimistic about Barry Douglas being available for Sunday’s clash with Celtic.
“Barry felt his hamstring, so we took him off,” he reported.
“He hasn’t trained so far this week but hopefully he’ll be able to in the next few days.
“We’re hoping he will be fit for the weekend.
“Fran Franczak had looked good during the international break but he twisted his ankle last week so he will be out until the split.”
With Sidibeh ruled out and Benji Kimpioka lacking match sharpness, Makenzie Kirk was tasked with a lone striker role against Hibs.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, there were signs of fatigue in the former Hearts attacker’s performance.
“Makenzie played in three games for the Northern Ireland under-21s,” said Valakari. “He played 70 minutes twice and 30 minutes.
“That was a lot after the Aberdeen game as well.
“But we are not making excuses.
“The rest of the team were here training and the levels we produced were not what we expect.
“We have to credit the opponent.
“Hibs were good, but we didn’t play anywhere close to what we are capable of.
“But last weekend shouldn’t affect our confidence because we know the good form we had been in.
“We will own it. We have analysed it and now go back to the training field to make things better.
“Where we have been good lately is that for teams to score, we have made them work hard to do it.
“That wasn’t the case against Hibs, so we need to get back to making it difficult for teams to get goals.”
Clock ticking
Valakari knows that time is running out to bridge the gap to either Dundee or Kilmarnock – and that facing Celtic presents the prospect that it will get bigger rather than smaller at the weekend.
“We don’t have the luxury of having many more off days because of where we are in the table,” he said.
“If you are mid-table then you can afford to have those games now and again, but we understand the dynamics of the situation.
“Other teams, the direct opponents around us, will be looking at their fixtures and see we are playing Celtic.
“So, they will see this weekend as a chance to open the gap again, especially with us playing on Sunday.
“But we can only control what we can control, stay calm and just focus on our performance against Celtic.
“The aim we have is to be in distance to compete when the split comes and that means getting something from the next two games.
“We want to make sure the Hibs game was a blip and show what kind of team we are by bouncing back.”
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