St Johnstone manager Steve Lomas wants the Richie Brittain furore to be quickly resolved.
Lomas said his piece on the issue in the aftermath of Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Ross County, highlighting his belief that Brittain may have been offered a new deal by the Staggies to stay even though the midfielder signed a pre-contract agreement with the Perth club in January.
Brittain has apparently since asked Saints to rip up the contract, citing personal reasons for the change of heart, and the saga has drawn comments from Lomas and his opposite number Derek Adams in recent days.
What happens next is anyone’s guess, but the Saints boss remains hopeful Brittain will still be plying his trade at McDiarmid Park next season.
“We have played it by the book,” Lomas reiterated.
“I don’t want it to drag on and on but I was very disappointed at the timing of the story coming out.
“Pre-contracts can be tricky so I had made a conscious effort not to speak about it or pester Richie out of respect for County as we are top six rivals.
“What happens now? I suppose it will all depend on how hard our chairman is prepared to push it. Ultimately that is what it will boil down to.”
“I didn’t think he really did much on Sunday apart from the two penalties, but he put them away very well,” said Lomas.
“We know his qualities and that’s why we’ve gone to try and sign him on a two-year deal.”
The Northern Irishman has now turned his attention to Saturday’s huge game against Inverness, the result of which could go a long way towards determining who finishes third in the SPL and secures a Europa League spot.
Saints’ 2-2 draw with County saw them pass up an opportunity to close the five-point gap between themselves and Caley to two, but a four-point deficit with four games left is still far from insurmountable.
“If we don’t win the Inverness game it would be mightily hard to make up the points advantage they have,” Lomas said.
“So it is a huge game for the club. But we are still in there with a fighting chance.”