St Johnstone’s star striker and their longest-serving player will both travel to Switzerland despite remaining major injury doubts.
Saints fly out on Wednesday morning for their Europa League second qualifying round first leg tie against FC Luzern.
Frontman Stevie May has a thigh problem, while central defender Steven Anderson has a hamstring injury.
Manager Tommy Wright will take them on the trip but he isn’t optimistic that either, or both of them, will be fit to play at the Swissporarena on Thursday night.
“Stevie May and Steven Anderson will travel with us but they are still serious doubts,” said Wright.
“They will get every opportunity to make it but they will have to be 100% fit because we can’t take chances with them.
“It’s a big game for the club, we know that, but you can’t risk muscle injuries at this time of the season.
“We won’t take any chances with them because the last thing you want to do is end up being without them for five or six weeks.
“If they are 100% fit they will be involved but if they are not then they won’t be.
“At the end of the season you can take more of a gamble because players have that time to recover over the summer if they need it.
“But this is the starting point for 10 months of football so you have to be mindful of that as well.
“They will both be on the flight but we will have to leave the decisions as late as possible.”
What could help Wright cope without May and Anderson is that the squad is pretty much the same as last season.
There has been no mass upheaval over the summer and Wright added: “I think it definitely helps us that we have a settled squad.
“We agreed during last season that we wanted the continuity and that it would be good planning to sign up the players we wanted to keep.
“We did that and it means we’re not bedding in six or seven new players in these European games.
“The nucleus of the squad is the same as it has been for a while now. It is strong and we’re hoping being settled will help us.”
Saints had Luzern watched at the weekend and the report back to Wright was complimentary.
“Alec Cleland went across to see Luzern and they won comfortably,” said the McDiarmid manager.
“He said they were impressive, that they have a lot of energy in their team and press the game well.
“That’s fine for us because we like to play at a good tempo. We know it’s going to be a tough game but we’re positive going into it. This season we’ve worked off the same plan we had 12 months ago.
“The players all came back fit and are ready to go so fitness won’t be a problem for us.
“This game will be every bit as tough as Rosenborg was last season. In some ways it could be harder because there’s no way Luzern will underestimate us.”
Meanwhile, saints won’t be short of support in the central Swiss city.
Wright revealed: “It looks like we could have up to 1,000 fans across in Switzerland with us.
“Location-wise it’s a good place to get to and you’ve seen in the last few years that the St Johnstone fans love their trips abroad.
“The supporters had a great time in Turkey and then in Norway last season so they are travelling in numbers again this time.
“The support against Rosenborg last year was excellent and hopefully we can give the fans another memorable evening.”