Dundee boss Paul Hartley has sympathy for St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright for having to cope with the Michael O’Halloran transfer saga.
Hartley feels the dragged out affair that eventually ended with O’Halloran moving to Rangers must have made life difficult for the McDiarmid men.
As he prepared his team to face the Perth side at Dens Park tonight, Hartley said: “I think it can be difficult for a manager when there’s that sort of speculation, not knowing whether the player is staying, going or whatever.
“They are a good team and probably the speculation surrounding O’Halloran didn’t help them.
“It can sometimes affect the mental side in terms of what you’re getting from a player.
“But players have to play through that and keep their form going.
“We’ve had it with Greg (Stewart) and the speculation which has surrounded him.
“I have been there as a player too.
“I know what it can be like and I think it’s more from the other players that you can get some stick.
“But I think if you’re a manager and you’ve got a player who is at the centre of speculation you can only hope they handle it pretty well.
“It did coincide with their slump because he (O’Halloran) had such a fantastic start to the season.
“He was a real key player for them so is a big loss.
“But sometimes you can’t help these things if players move on.”
Despite the visitors having gone so long without a win, Hartley is still expecting a tough clash in front of the live TV cameras tonight.
He added: “St Johnstone had a brilliant start to the season but they are a wee bit like ourselves, having gone through a bad patch.
“But they’re still in a good position in the league.
“They are the team we are looking to try and catch.
“I think every team goes through a difficult period as shown this season.
“So they’re not the only ones.
“In saying that, I hope it doesn’t turn for them against us!
“They have been a regular top-six team who have reached cup finals and semi-finals and Tommy has done a brilliant job.”