St Johnstone boss, Simo Valakari, will soon learn if there’s any chance of defender, Zach Mitchell, playing for him again this season.
Mitchell has returned to his parent club, Charlton Athletic, where the centre-back’s hamstring injury will be assessed.
The 20-year-old’s absence has been a big blow to Saints’ hopes of staying the Premiership, with a makeshift backline toiling against Motherwell on Saturday.
However, Valakari fully accepts that the McDiarmid Park side’s relegation battle won’t be at the front of the Charlton medical staff’s minds when they decide whether Mitchell can make a push to return before the season concludes.
“Zach has gone back down to Charlton as we planned,” the Finn reported. “So they will assess him now.
“We are just waiting to hear what is happening.
“They will look at him, how he’s progressing, and make a decision.
“Charlton will make their decision based on what they think is best for Zach and they won’t take any risks with him.
“When you sign a loan player you know how this works, so we just have to be patient and see what Charlton decide.
“If it was one of our players on loan at another club, we would be doing the same. It’s normal.
“Charlton will be looking at Zach’s career for next season so that will be a big part of their decision. We just have to wait and see what they think.”
Worst crisis ever
Mitchell would strengthen the team at either centre-half or full-back, two positions Saints are threadbare in.
Valakari said: “Is this the worst I have experienced with injuries, defensively?
“Yes, of course. Especially with our situation.
“But there is nothing we can do about it other than come together and work hard on getting everyone familiar with their positions.
“It is new to players, but we are doing everything in training to give them as many experiences as we can.
“Training is planned so that defenders are exposed to all different situations because that is the only way to learn.
“We have to do that as quickly as possible and fix as much as we can in a short space of time, becoming more solid.
“Of course, in matches things happen that you can’t totally plan for, so you are relying on people stepping up.
“It’s about giving them as much information about the opponents as you can and also preparing them in training for what is likely to happen.
“Everyone is trying their best.
“They are all working hard and are desperate to do well for the team and the club.”
Strong backline needed
After taking over from Craig Levein, Valakari immediately identified central defence as the area most in need attention – and free agent, Bozo Mikulic, was his first signing.
Mitchell and Daniels Balodis were added to the squad in January, with the latter now the last and only centre-back left standing.
From the end of January to the start of April, Saints had six clean sheets in 10 games.
“Every successful team is built on having a solid defence and that mostly comes from the experience of playing together,” said Valakari.
“You see Dundee United, Hibs, Celtic – they all have a strong backline and that is the foundation of being successful, especially in this league.
“We have a lot of problems and it has made our situation difficult. But we will find solutions.
“There are four games more to fight so we can’t think about anything other than Kilmarnock this weekend and finding a way to win.
“We can’t think about the last match.
“It all has to be about Saturday and trying to find the keys to getting three points.
“All our effort is on trying to maximise our chances against Killie.
“After that, we will see where we are, which players are available for the next match and then start planning for that one.”
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