New St Johnstone striker Sean Higgins was on target at a team bonding clay pigeon session on Monday and now he is determined to have his shooting boots on for his side’s SPL opener in Aberdeen at the weekend.
Last season Saints were guilty of firing blanks and only netted 23 times in the league a worse record than relegated Hamilton.
To remedy that, Perth boss Derek McInnes drafted in strikers Higgins from Dundee as well as Carl Finnegan from Falkirk, and he also hopes to tie up another two later this week in the shape of Danijel Subotic and Marcus Haber.
There is a lot of pressure on the new boys to become prolific for Saints, but hotshot Higgins, who was in a rich vein of form in the last campaign before injury brought a premature end to his season, insists he can cope with the weight of expectation.
He said, “I have never done clay pigeon shooting before so it was a great experience. It was all about team bonding but there was a real competitive edge to it.
“I am probably one of the most competitive in the dressing room I hate getting beaten at anything to be honest. I just hope my shooting on Saturday is better than my efforts at the range.
“Seriously though, I think there is always pressure on strikers to score goals. I finished off last season well goal wise for Dundee.
“When I started at Dens it was more about my overall play than just goals. But, as a striker, you are really judged on how many times you hit the back of the net.
“That is something I will have to address like fellow new boy Carl Finnegan, as well as our other forwards such as Stevie May and Sam Parkin when he is back fit.”
The striker is just one of several new boys in the McDiarmid Park dressing room with McInnes having signed Frazer Wright, David Robertson, Callum Davidson and David McCracken as well as Finnegan.
Higgins admitted he has been given a warm welcome at Perth something which he also received when he made a quick-fire return to his old hunting ground Dens Park for a friendly last week.
“The lads at Dens have been brilliant with me and wished me all the best at St Johnstone. I left under good terms at Dundee and the fans never gave me any stick on Wednesday night, which I really appreciated.
“The St Johnstone boys have also been great and really helped me settle in. There have been a few other new faces as well as myself which has made things a bit easier.”