Lee Croft has already seen what it’s like to miss out on Europe on the last day of the season, and he doesn’t want St Johnstone to suffer the same fate.
The on-loan winger was coming through the ranks at Manchester City when they fell at the final hurdle a few years ago in their bid to qualify for the UEFA Cup.
Since arriving in Perth in the January transfer window, the former England Under-21 international has played a bigger part in Saints’ quest for Europa League football than he did at Maine Road, and he’s determined that the McDiarmid Park side will finish off the job they’ve started.
And he admitted that the prospect of a Euro campaign next summer would be one of the factors to weigh up when he’s considering where to play his football next season.
He said: ”I’ve really enjoyed it up here. It’s worked out even better than I could have hoped for. It’s been a great experience, and with the team doing so well that’s made it even more enjoyable.
”I’m under contract with Derby for another year. Finishing this season well is all I’m thinking about at the moment. I haven’t really thought about what will happen after that yet. I want to help the lads and the gaffer to the best position we can get.
”If we do qualify for Europe it’s something everybody would want to be involved in, not just myself. The closest I got was when I was at Man City as a young player. We played Middlesbrough in the last game of the season and needed to win, but we didn’t manage it.”
Saints travel to Inverness tonight looking to pull three points clear of Dundee United, and seven points above Hearts. And Croft insisted that they haven’t yet given up on clawing back third-placed Motherwell.
He pointed out: ”This is our game in hand and we want to take full advantage by taking three points while nobody else is playing. If we win at Inverness we’ll be five points behind Motherwell and we’ll still have them to play once after the split. It’s important we keep picking up points before then.
”Saturday was a big win for us against Hearts, and we did it without playing really well. For whatever reason, there didn’t seem to be a spark about us. It was a weird game both sides were quite flat.
”At this stage of the season we won’t play well every week but it’s the three points that count. That was the case against Hearts, when we dug in and got the job done.
”It will be the same at Inverness make sure we come away with the win and maintain the good league position we’ve got ourselves into. I’ve never been that far north, so it will be a new experience!”
Saints will definitely be without one Davidson tonight Murray. His namesake Callum will have a late fitness check and may be available.