St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright believes new signing Danny Swanson can give his side an extra spark in their efforts to boost their goals tally in the coming weeks.
The Perth club are sitting pretty in the top six in spite of the fact they are the third lowest goal scorers in the Scottish Premiership so far this term.
But Wright hopes to see his team improve that scoring record in the remainder of the season, and reckons the capture of former Dundee United midfielder Swanson can enhance the chances of that.
Wright told Courier Sport yesterday that he will assess the 28-year-old, who joined on loan from Coventry on deadline day, ahead of tomorrow’s Scottish Cup tie at Queen of the South and decide then whether or not to pitch him straight in at Palmerston.
And he added: “He’s played recently so he should be up to speed.
“I’m pleased to get him and I think he’ll give us a bit of quality in the last third.
“He can make things happen and he’s a very gifted footballer.
“He’s a talented player, he’s someone we tried to get in the summer but couldn’t match Coventry’s wages, so I’m pleased to get him with a lot of important games coming up.
“I think he can be a match winner.
“We’ve done remarkably well when you consider the number of goals we’ve scored.
“We’ve challenging for top six and we’re still in the cup, and that’s down to how hard we’ve worked not to concede because I think we’ve only scored one or two more than Motherwell.
“So we’ve found a way to win games and keep ourselves challenging for top six and still be in the cup.
“We didn’t feel we were going to do any business on deadline day, it wasn’t until about 2pm that he became available and he wasn’t aware until about 3 or 4pm that he had become available so I’m pleased we managed to get it over the line.
“I’m pleased to get him because I think he will give us another option in the final third.
“The other thing is that he knows the league.
“It’s not a risk, he’s from Edinburgh and he’s coming back home.
“He’s got nothing to prove but he wants to play and that’s important.
“He does score goals and he does create goals.”
Lee Croft will miss out tomorrow through suspension, although James McFadden and Dave Mackay are both fine and will come back into contention.
Mackay could have played last weekend after recovering from a back injury but Wright revealed he didn’t want to take a risk as the skipper had felt unwell for most of the week.
Midfielder Chris Millar has done some training this week but is the only player rated doubtful.
“I’d ideally prefer Chris to have a full week because he’s been out for quite some time now, but we’ll assess that,” he added.
Ahead of tomorrow’s game against Queen of the South, Wright will ensure that his players’ mindset is spot on for what, on paper, looks like a very tricky tie for last season’s Scottish Cup winners to overcome.
“The fact that we had our dinner celebrating the cup win on Sunday night should remind them of how important it is, and how much pride they should take from winning it,” he continued.
“As holders we want to hold on to the cup for as long as possible.
“We know we’ve got a difficult tie, but Queen of the South know they’ve got a difficult tie.
“If you look at it, I know our attitude will be right.
“We don’t underestimate anybody and we’ll give them the full respect they deserve.”