St Johnstone manager Steve Lomas has admitted feeling sympathy for the first-team squad members he has not given a game because the men in possession of a jersey have not yet put a foot wrong.
The rookie boss inherited a squad built by Derek McInnes which had made an impressive start to the SPL campaign. He has stuck with the same personnel who were succeeding under his predecessor, but this has meant a lot of experienced players not even getting a place on the bench in Lomas’s first two games in charge.
With Lomas carrying on where McInnes left off with a draw at Ibrox and a home win against Hibs in his first two games, that does not look like changing any time soon.
He said: ”The guys I feel sorry for are the lads I’m leaving in the stand the likes of Davie McCracken, Sean Higgins and Willie Gibson. I can remember that as a player the worst thing is training hard all week and not having a game at the end of it.
”I’ve said it before, but whoever made up the under-21 ruling needs to have a drastic rethink. It’s a nonsense and isn’t doing the young lads any good or the senior pros who are left out.
”The lads are bright enough to realise why I haven’t changed the team much so far the boys in the side at the moment have been doing really well.
”The one thing I would say though is that there are a lot of games coming up for us and injuries and suspensions will start to kick in. So other lads will get their chance.”
Reflecting on Saturday’s defeat of Hibs, Lomas said: ”The conditions were pretty bad at the weekend but it could have been worse I think Scotland was under six feet of snow by now last year so I won’t complain.
”I certainly couldn’t fault my players’ attitude it was first class again. The boys have been excellent in every single training session since myself and Tommy (Wright) came in. Not once have we had to say ‘this isn’t good enough’. It’s been a pleasure to work with them.”
Next up is a trip to Tynecastle as Saints look to complete an Edinburgh double.
He said: ”We enjoyed the win but now we get ready to go again. Hearts away will be a very tough match and we certainly won’t be resting on our laurels. Once you start to take it easy in this game, you end up getting a kick up the backside.”
Meanwhile, Lomas revealed that the injury which forced Cillian Sheridan off in the early stages of the Hibs game may not be the same one which had kept him out at Ibrox.
He said: ”We’ll have to wait to find out what the problem is. Cillian said he thought it was a different injury. It’s the same hamstring though, so you’d think there’s a connection.
”He felt great on Thursday and Friday but has pulled up during the match again. It’s something we need to get to the bottom of because it’s frustrating for player as much as anything else.”
Meanwhile skipper Jody Morris was kept out at the weekend by a combination of illness and injury.
Lomas said: ”Jody had a bit of flu at the weekend as well as his hamstring strain. Hopefully the rest will have done him good. We’ll have a better idea later in the week.”
Photo Kirk O’Rourke/PA