Zander Clark may only be sidelined for one more game, St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright has revealed.
The keeper injured his hamstring ahead of the Rangers match on February 16 and is “making good progress” on his comeback, Wright confirmed.
He will miss out against Livingston at the weekend but has a chance of returning the following Saturday when St Mirren visit McDiarmid Park.
“Zander is making good progress,” said Wright. “We assess him on a daily basis.
“Hopefully we can increase his workload and push him a bit more this week. He won’t be ready for Livingston but there is a chance he could be fit for the St Mirren game.”
Meanwhile, Brian Easton could be back in the Saints squad even earlier.
Wright reported: “Easty trained all last week and we will assess him over the next few days.
“He is getting stronger and fitter. If he has no ill effects after the reserve game with Dundee United (yesterday) there’s every chance I can start naming him in the squad again.
“That would be a huge boost for him.
“He has had a hard time of it and has had so many set-backs. Unfortunately that’s just the type of injury it is.
“But he has worked very hard to get to this stage and it will be great to get him back.”
Wright added: “Michael (O’Halloran) should be back to full training tomorrow and that will be another massive positive for us.
“He gives us another dimension with real pace and energy in wide areas and up front.
“Drey (Wright) is coming along nicely and sees his consultant later this week.
“He is a member of the PFA and he spent a week getting one on one treatment at the St George’s facility.”
Meanwhile, Wright has set his players a 10-point target to finish in the top six.
Saints are currently three points behind Hibs and are playing catch-up in the pre-split run-in.
Wright said: “We never get ahead of ourselves because games aren’t won on paper.
“But let’s be honest, if we have any aspirations of the top six we have to start picking up wins and putting a wee run together.
“We have five games before the split and we probably need to pick up nine or maybe even 10 points.
“I think it is going to need more than in previous years to secure that final spot in the top six.
“We used to say 45 or 46 and you were a shoo-in. I think it may need more than that this time round.
“Despite the recent run we are still having a good season. We are only eight points off our points tally for the whole of last season.
“But because we had put ourselves in a good position before this bad run we don’t want to miss out.
“Performances against Aberdeen and Hibs have deserved more.
“But we have been through these runs before. Now we have got to rectify it.”
