St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright admits he can’t speak highly enough of Steven Anderson – even if he was a “Champions League moaner”!
The 33-year-old Scottish Cup-winning hero joined Raith Rovers on Friday on a season-long loan at Stark’s Park.
That brought down the curtain on his illustrious career at McDiarmid with Anderson having racked up a record 441 appearances for the club.
The centre-half made his debut for John McGlynn’s Raith on Saturday, coming on as a sub in the Challenge Cup win over Falkirk with Wright admitting the player was just determined to get game time.
The St Johnstone manager said: “It’s best for Steven to go out and play. We have been talking about that for a long period of time.
“Ideally, would a manager want to keep someone of his experience about the place – of course.
“But he wants to play, like he did in January when he went to Partick.
“It’s the same this time round. I can’t guarantee him regular football so it’s best for him in the long run.”
Saints fans will always fondly remember Anderson especially for scoring the opening goal in that Scottish triumph over Dundee United in 2014.
Wright added: “He has been a great servant to the club. He’s made more appearances than anyone and will always be remembered for his goal in the Scottish Cup final.
“Over the period of time I have worked with him he’s given me everything.
“So he goes with my good wishes and the good wishes of everyone at the club.”
Wright smiled and added: “One thing that won’t be missed is his moaning and girning every day – John McGlynn will have to deal with that now!
“Steven is a Champions League standard moaner.
“Seriously though, he was brilliant for me and I can’t speak highly enough about him.”
While the transfer window may have closed, Wright is still looking to add to his squad.
The manager said: “I will be speaking to the chairman this week about getting a left-back in.
“I thought I’d give him a bit of breathing space after how hectic it was in the final few days of the window.
“But we have known for a while we needed a left-sided defender, so we’ll look at our options there.”
