The St Johnstone players are taking it as a compliment that their manager is being linked with a move to Burnley.
Michael Duberry insisted Sunday’s win against Inverness Caley Thistle showed that the Perth men have not allowed themselves to be distracted by the possibility of the English Championship side targeting their boss.
Success for Saints will mean interest in McInnes from bigger clubs is inevitable, he pointed out.
“Everyone is just getting on with their job and we won’t let the speculation distract us or use it as an excuse”, the former Chelsea and Leeds defender said.
“There has been no disruption whatsoever to our preparations. If our manager is being linked with interest from other clubs it must mean he is doing a good job and his team is doing well.
“When you’re not a massive club there will always be interest in your manager and best players when they are performing well.
“What the manager has done here last year and this season means there is bound to be interest.
“Whatever happens happens. But maybe now the chairman will have a massive compensation clause built into his managers’ contracts!” From sitting just two points above bottom a fortnight into November, Saints have transformed their fortunes by claiming 10 points from their last five games. Now the McDiarmid Park club are within three points of Motherwell in sixth and 10 away from the basement.Improvement in formThere is no doubting from which area of the team this upturn in form has been born.
Duberry commented, “After conceding an embarrassing amount of goals at one stage we have tightened up and we are back to being solid and a hard team to beat.
“We were comfortable as a back four against Caley Thistle and the previous week Celtic took until the 91st minute to break us down and they are leading the league.
“There was a phase when our defending was schoolboy stuff and we were conceding far too many goals. But we went back to basics in training and we have tightened up as individuals and as a team.
“We have been that way for the last four or five games. We again have a settled back four and that is important.”
The return of Dave Mackay to the side has been key at both ends of the pitch, he feels.
“Dave must be one of the best right backs in the country. He just gives you so much defending and going forward.”
Ending Caley Thistle’s 13-month unbeaten away run was an excellent achievement but putting high-flying Hearts out of the Scottish Cup on Sunday would be an even greater one.
Duberry observed, “Hearts are in great form but so were Inverness, and we owe Hearts one after they beat us here in November. We’ve made a good start to the new year and we want that to continue.”
Meanwhile, Steven Anderson was substituted in the second half of Sunday’s match because of a hip and back problem. The injury will be assessed today.