St Johnstone boss Steve Lomas insists Jody Morris and Fran Sandaza have retained their focus for the club despite some feverish speculation about their futures during the transfer window.
The McDiarmid Park manager had feared there might be late bids on Tuesday night for skipper Morris from former Saints boss Derek McInnes at Bristol City, and a renewed offer from Rangers for striker Sandaza after they lost their own top scorer Nikica Jelavic to Everton.
However, the window closed with no further interest and a relieved Lomas has admitted he is delighted both players will be available for Sunday’s Scottish Cup clash with Hearts in Edinburgh.
Lomas said: ”We knew by about 8pm on Tuesday that nothing would happen so we’re delighted to keep the squad intact. We will have Jody and Fran for another four months at least so we can hopefully kick on from here.
”I can understand the circumstances with Jody and Derek McInnes because they are very close, but he is a top professional so it’s not a problem.
”Both he and Fran are great pros. They love playing and if you see the way they have performed in the last few weeks it shows they are desperate to do well for St Johnstone.
”We didn’t get any offers from anyone so in the end there were no decisions to be made. And that’s something we’re delighted about so we just want to look forward to Hearts on Sunday now.”
Lomas completed some transfer business of his own earlier this week with the capture of two on-loan Under-21 recruits Kudus Oyenuga from Spurs and James Keatings from Celtic.
However, he took time out to praise the efforts of another youngster, Stevie May, who has hit the back of the net eight times since being farmed out to Alloa.
He added: ”We wanted to send Stevie out on loan to get experience and we’re thrilled that he’s doing so well. He will really be learning from the experience, so the plan is for him to come back here and kick on for us next season.
”You want your young players getting out to play in matches rather than sit on the bench so it’s been a fantastic move for Stevie.”
Meanwhile, another McDiarmid Park teenager Stephen Reynolds has left the club by mutual consent.
The player had spent time out on loan at Ayr United and more recently Raith Rovers but with no immediate opportunity to break into the first team looming, Lomas has offered the player the chance to leave to find another club.