By Eric Nicolson

ALAN MAIN celebrates his 41st birthday today, and the St Johnstone goalkeeper is determined that he will be turning 42 as an SPL player.

The former Dundee United and Gretna keeper, who will be between the posts at McDiarmid Park against Queen of the South tomorrow, said, “It would be great if I could play in the SPL again.

“I’d love to think I could get another shot at it. But I wouldn’t expect any favours. It would be down to performance levels.

“But I certainly wouldn’t be thinking of retiring if we do go on to win the league.

“The birthday celebrations will be pretty low-key. Turning 40 last year was a bigger and tougher milestone. That was terrible!

“It’s just a number and, while I don’t train as much as a 25-year-old, I’m still putting in a shift and I don’t suffer from nerves going into games.

“I know I can’t go on forever but I don’t feel my age.

“Now we have John Hillcoat in for cover and that’s good of him. I told him he might be 37 but he looks older than me!

“Younger players want the chance to prove themselves on that stage and a few of the older guys are keen to get back to that level. The incentives are there for us all. We are on a good run but it has to be maintained.

“The crowds have been really good recently and the players are feeding off it and responding.

“It’s all really positive and they are coming back in numbers.

“That’s great, particularly given the economic climate right now. Hopefully they’ll be out in force to back us against Queen of the South.

“I feel pretty good right now. It wasn’t that way when we lost a few games earlier in the season. But I always believed we’d come good.

“And it helps when the team is sitting top of the league and we’re going well.”

Main admitted that signing up for a second stint in Perth was a career gamble, after the success he enjoyed in the Paul Sturrock era the first time around.

He said, “Sometimes it doesn’t work out for players going back to an old club but I deliberately put pressure on myself to perform.”

Now that Saints’ season is on the right tracks, Main is starting to draw parallels with the club’s last First Division title success.

He explained, “I got promotion here in my second season and this is my second season after coming back.

“There are a lot of similarities. We have another young manager keen to prove himself, a decent side and everyone has different reasons for wanting promotion.

“My two sons, Nicholas and Josh, are both season ticket holders and they seem even more excited about the prospect of Saints reaching the Premier League than I do! I think that’s a reflection of how the fans are feeling.”

Perth boss Derek McInnes yesterday paid tribute to his veteran keeper.

“We’re lucky to have him,” he insisted.

“He’s been a great professional for me.

“He’s still playing because he sets himself such high standards and projects confidence and assurance.”

Meanwhile, McInnes hopes that Stuart McCaffrey will be available for selection tomorrow.

The defender trained for the first time yesterday after spending the earlier part of the week working with physio Nick Summersgill.

Martin Hardie will also be back in the squad, having served a one-game suspension, and McInnes has some tough selection decisions to make.

He said, “I’ve never been of the opinion that you don’t change a winning team. Different games pose different problems.

“You pick a team that you think is best suited to beat the particular opposition on that day. We chopped and changed a lot at the start of the season when we were trying to get the right formula, but it’s been pretty much the same boys we’ve used over the last wee while.

“Everybody here has either been signed by me or kept by me so they all know that I think they can give us something.”

Saints yesterday announced arrangements for the televised Homecoming Scottish Cup clash with Rangers, which will bring in around £100,000.

The all-ticket McDiarmid tie, to be shown on BBC, has been re-arranged for Tuesday, January 13 with an 8.05pm kick-off.

Fans taking in the game against Clyde on December 13 will receive a voucher entitling them to buy two tickets for the tie. Season ticket holders can buy two, by redeeming voucher 30, from December 15 to 19. Voucher holders can buy them from December 22.

Prices are £19 for the west stand, £17 for the east, with discounts for under-16s and seniors.