St Johnstone’s players can’t wait to exorcise the demons of Saturday’s defeat against Motherwell when they face Aberdeen on Tuesday night none more so than Willie Gibson.
The former Dunfermline winger, who is on loan from Crawley Town, has pressing reasons for wanting to stay in Scotland but admits he is running out of time to persuade Saints boss Steve Lomas his loan should be extended.
Saturday’s cameo appearance was the first time Gibson has featured since Lomas took over the reins from Derek McInnes and he is hoping he has done enough to merit another chance to impress.
Gibson managed to negotiate a loan deal north of the border so he could cut the amount of time he was spending travelling to visit his family, but is now worrying about the future again.
He said: ”I haven’t spoken to the manager, but the way it’s looking with me not being involved really I would guess I won’t be staying but as I said that hasn’t been confirmed.
”Even if my future isn’t here, I would like to hope other clubs would take interest, but it’s difficult when you aren’t playing.”
There was little Gibson could do to influence proceedings when he came on in the 64th minute in front of a disappointing 2,885 crowd for a game between the third and fourth-placed teams in the SPL.
Saints were without the injured Frazer Wright, Jody Morris, Fran Sandaza and Cillian Sheridan, and were dealt a further blow before kick-off when Kevin Moon had to withdraw suffering from flu.
Those absences were keenly felt with St Johnstone struggling to impose themselves on Motherwell however, the home players didn’t help their cause with errors at all three goals.
Goalkeeper Peter Enckelman was culpable at the first on 16 minutes when he failed to hold a low Nicky Law cross from the left, with Omar Daley gleefully tapping in the spilled ball.
The second, just before the half-hour mark, saw David McCracken mistime his jump at a Tom Hateley cross from the right, with Jamie Murphy capitalising and heading home.
A miserable afternoon for the home support was made complete in the 67th minute when no-one closed down Daley lurking at the edge of the Saints penalty area at a corner, and his crisply-struck shot was deflected in off Murphy.
The final margin possibly flattered the Steelmen, but not even the most blinkered Perth fan could deny they thoroughly merited the victory that consolidated their position as the best of the rest outwith the Old Firm.
Saints will now look to pick themselves up for the visit of Aberdeen a point made by Lomas who said: ”That was a wee bit of a reality check. All credit to Motherwell though they were a lot sharper and won all the individual battles.
”We have to take it on the chin, but the good thing is we have a game on Tuesday again to bounce back.”