St Johnstone striker Fran Sandaza hopes to star on Spanish TV tonight well, at least in a little corner of Madrid.
Sandaza may be lining up against Aberdeen in Perth, more than 1,000 miles from the Spanish capital, but he will cheered on by family and friends who will gather in his native land to watch the live Sky broadcast at a sports bar.
He has missed the club’s last two games due to a thigh injury so is raring to go tonight and desperate to put on a show for the audience back home.
”There is a popular sports bar in Madrid called Marca that shows football from all over the world and you get the Scottish matches on one of the 12 screens,” said Sandaza. ”People can go there and have a drink and also bet on the outcome of matches.
”They even show the games that are on the (Gaelic language) BBC Alba channel but they put the commentary on mute because they don’t understand any of it! So I will have a few people there to watch our game and hopefully I can play, do my best and maybe score a goal.
”I think we will all be wanting to show we are good players and I am looking forward to the match.”
Sandaza admitted he found it a ”frustrating” experience watching from the stand as Saints were beaten 3-0 by Motherwell at home at the weekend.
”The manager didn’t want to risk me in case I was out for four or five more weeks,” he said.
”It is always an easy game physically when you are watching from the stand and the others are out running on the pitch,” he joked. ”However, it was frustrating and it was a bad day for the team.
” Motherwell were better than us, although I think a 3-0 result was cruel. The boys were disappointed with their performance. They were playing the team that is in the third position in the league and it was a big chance for us.
”Now we have an opportunity to recover three points which were lost on Saturday. If we beat Aberdeen then that game will be forgotten.
”It is great having a match so soon. It will be tough because Aberdeen shouldn’t be in position they are in and will want to get away from there.
”They are a big club in Scotland. I missed the 0-0 with them at the start of the season because I hadn’t signed at that time but I know they should not be near the bottom of the league.”
Sandaza, who celebrated his 27th birthday last week, believes he can pick up where he left off for Saints and feels he has never felt better.
”I am in my best form in the three years that I have been in Scotland,” declared the former Dundee United man. ”I have more experience and I am more mature now.
”I have scored goals and there are more to come. I am more confident in myself now. I want to play for something and that means trying to get third position. We can still do that.”
Saints boss Steve Lomas hinted at a return for Sandaza but that’s where the good news stops.
He said: ”We are hoping to have Fran back for this one but we have had some horrendous luck on the injury front. Kevin Moon is still out with flu and Jody Morris, Cillian Sheridan and Frazer Wright are still out.
”I’m thinking of getting in someone to the stadium to exorcise those demons. We have a decent enough squad but we are going into training sessions hoping no one else takes a knock.
”Maybe I tempted fate before the Motherwell game by talking about how we could be getting ahead of ourselves.
”The lads were disappointed with their performance at the weekend, which is a good sign for a manager.
”The good thing is that we have a quick chance to bounce back and I am looking forward to seeing how they react to a defeat.”
Fraser Fyvie is suspended for Aberdeen, who have given defender Russell Anderson a chance to resurrect his career at Pittodrie.
The midfielder Fyvie was sent off in stoppage time at the end Saturday’s draw with St Mirren as the Dons squandered a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2.
Forward Rory Fallon is a doubt with a knock, while midfielder Yoann Folly remains out.