Superstitious St Johnstone boss Steve Lomas believes he has hit on the recipe for success with a new pre-match ritual.
The Northern Irishman cooked up a storm in his first game in charge of Saints, steering the Perth side to a well-deserved draw against Rangers last Saturday during which the tireless Fran Sandaza was a vital ingredient as lone striker.
Lomas revealed that he was really impressed by the Spaniard’s cordon bleu performance especially as he feared he had maybe poisoned the striker prior to the match.
The McDiarmid Park gaffer and his coach Tommy Wright cooked a meal for Sandaza, his brother and a pal from Spain, along with neighbour Alan Mannus, before they headed for Govan.
And that dinner date will become a regular occurrence if Saints go on a winning run, starting on Saturday against Hibs.
Lomas said: ”Fran did well last week and I want him to do that and a bit more against Hibs. I’ll tell him that in my dodgy Spanish.
“We have a little dinner party ritual going with me and Tommy. They came across to our place last week and I cooked them cajun salmon.
”I wondered the next day if I might have poisoned them. Normally I like to have my salmon a little bit underdone but I gave it another 10 minutes to play it safe.
”I think we’ll play it even safer this time and go for chicken. We’ve got to keep it up after getting a good result against Rangers. And if Fran doesn’t maintain that sort of form, he can expect the salmon again but this time across his head!”
The Saints players may have secured a point at Ibrox but Lomas stressed it will mean little unless they build on that performance with a win over Hibs.
He said: ”It was a good point but to make it a great one we have to beat Hibs. We have four of our next five games at home, with the other match away to Hearts. But first and foremost the priority has to be three points against Hibs.
”This sort of game is our bread and butter against a team scrapping for their lives. With or without a new manager they are dangerous opponents because they will be keen to impress.
”So we need to show the same mindset as we did for Rangers.”
Saints’ David Robertson is cursing his bad luck after picking up an injury in a bounce game against Celtic.
The midfielder, who was lured to McDiarmid from Dundee United during the summer, was determined to impress his new boss only to be left frustrated on the sidelines.
He said: ”I’m ready if wanted but after a result like that against Rangers, I don’t suspect the manager will be contemplating too many changes.
”When a new manager comes in you obviously want to make an impression and he has fixed-up a few games. But I haven’t really had a chance to show him what I can do yet.
”I needed a scan after straining my medial ligament against Celtic and I’ve only just got back to training. It wasn’t good timing but the scan confirmed there was nothing serious, which was a huge relief.”
Skipper Jody Morris and striker Cillian Sheridan will be given up to the last minute before the Hibs game in a bid to shake off hamstring strains.
Photo Kirk O’Rourke/PA