Midfielder Lee Croft has spoken of his desire to win a deal back with St Johnstone after leaving Oldham in the summer.
Croft revealed Saints boss Tommy Wright has been monitoring his progress for some time.
“He’s told me since the summer that he wanted me to come back to St Johnstone. I’m not match fit at the moment but I’ll work hard in training and hopefully win a deal,” said Croft.
It has been a tough year in some ways for the player, as it was just over 12 months ago that the winger, while at Oldham, was the subject of a police investigation after he was accused of raciallyabusing a ballboy.
The allegations turned out to have no substance and he was completely cleared, although he admitted the whole affair left him with a sour taste.
“I had an altercation with the ballboy atSheffield United. We were losing the game and the ballboys were taking ages to give it back. I went over to get the ball and he kicked it away in the other direction.
“I had a go at him, which in hindsight I shouldn’t have done. But the next thing I heard about it was that four or five Sheffield United fans had accused me of being racist.
“The whole thing was twisted but I was still interviewed by the police over it. Thankfully they realised it was a load of rubbish because theversions they were being told by the people who made complaints were all different.
“Nothing matched and it was clear they were making it up. But it was still horrible because people believe what they read and I got a lot of abuse because of it.
“People thought I was a racist but thankfully people who know me knew it was a load of rubbish.”
Croft, who played for England through to U20 level, concentrated on his football in spite of the off-the-field situation and flourished at Oldham, playing in all but one of Oldham’s 54 games last season.
He was named player of the year at Boundary Park but a mixture of bad luck and timing left him somewhat isolated and disappointed in the summer.
And irony dictates that former Saints boss Steve Lomas, now atMillwall, was involved in what turned out to be a frustrating close season for the midfielder.
He said: “I was at Millwall for pre-season and was promised something there but it didn’t happen.It was really frustrating because Oldham had offered me a new deal and I had other clubs interested as well.
“I waited and waited for something to happen but it all fell apart and by that time everyone else had moved on.”
However, Croft is now back in Scotland andstaying with striker Stevie May as he attempts to win a deal back at McDiarmid Park, and the winger hopessomething can be sorted out over the next week.
“I have kept in touch with Tommy for a long time. He’s someone I’ve got a lot of respect for.”