St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright has confirmed that Stevie May will definitely play in Thursday night’s club’s Europa League match against Spartak Trnava.
The striker is currently the subject of a transfer tug-of-war between Rotherham and Sheffield Wednesday.
However, no matter what ultimately happens, May will be available as Saints look to overturn a 2-1 deficit from last week’s first leg at McDiarmid.
Wright said: “Everyone is OK Chris Millar will be fit, Ando (Steven Anderson) and Stevie have both come through OK.
“Stevie will still be there. Any possible deal will not interfere with Europe. I’ve made that perfectly clear and he’ll be available for Europe.”
Wright insists that despite all the speculation surrounding May, he firmly believes that it will not be a factor when he runs out against Spartak.
The manager added: “I wouldn’t think it will affect him. He’s still contracted to St Johnstone. It may or may not happen in the next few days, but he’s used to all the speculation now.
“I don’t think there’s a reason not to play him.
“He’s handled going out on loan well, he’s handled all the pressures of doing well last season with no problem. He’s used to the media attention and he’s a mature young man when it comes to most things.”
As for the game itself, Wright has detected that Saints could exploit Spartak over-confidence, with the Slovaks seeming to believe that the tie is already over following last week’s win.
The manager said: “The one thing I did pick up was their celebrations in the dressing-room and the reaction of the entourage that came down with them. I think they believe the tie is won and that’s good because it isn’t.
“We need to score two but if we play well enough we’re capable of doing it.
“We need to play well and we can’t afford a first 45 minutes like we had at our place. I’m sure we will be better.”
Saints will understand-ably be cast as underdogs for the game but Wright insists that’s a role he and the players relish.
He said: “The boys quite enjoy it and the manager quite enjoys proving people wrong as well!
“But the one thing we have to do is play better. If we don’t get control of the ball and pass it better then we won’t win.
“I feel we haven’t really hit top form. We battled well enough against Luzern but I don’t think we’re there in terms of performance.
“The one thing about the lads is that they are honest and when you hear them saying after the first leg that they were disappointed in how they played and it wasn’t the real St Johnstone then it tells you their mood.
“Take nothing away from Spartak they are a good side and tactically they were good, but we gave the ball away so often and gave them chances, something was bound to happen.
“We didn’t do ourselves justice apart from the first 15 of the second half and the last few minutes.
“We know we can play better and if we do, then we will give ourselves a real opportunity.”
When asked how high a win in Slovakia would rank, Wright admitted: “On paper everyone thinks we are already out so if we win it would rank pretty high.”