St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright is hopeful that the form of Chris Kane will help make up for the loss of Graham Cummins.
The Irishman has been one of Saints’ most impressive players in the first few months of the season, but is expected to be out for up to six weeks with a hamstring injury.
Young striker Kane took his chance to replace Cummins when he went off against Kilmarnock, and scored the winning goal.
And Wright believes the player, who has previously been loaned out to Dumbarton, has shown that hard work on the training ground on his weaker left foot is paying off.
“It was a great strike with his left foot for the goal,” Wright reflected.
“When it went in my first thoughts were it was Liam Craig who had scored because it was such a sweet hit. Kano’s not renowned for his left foot.
“It’s the side he needs to work on, and he has been working on it.”
Wright added: “He’s putting down a marker.
“He did well against Inverness off the bench and played a part in the penalty. He did well at Morton and scored a goal, and he did alright at Hamilton as well.
“He was the more natural replacement. Graham likes to run in behind and so does Kano.
“If it had been Macca coming off, John Sutton would probably have got on.
“We’ve got enough depth to cover Graham’s injury and hopefully he’s back as soon as possible.”