Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Scobbie wants more Euro nights at McDiarmid

Tam Scobbie celebrates a famous Europa League victory against FC Luzern.
Tam Scobbie celebrates a famous Europa League victory against FC Luzern.

There’s a big chunk of the season that Tam Scobbie would rather forget.

But the Europa League campaign certainly isn’t part of it.

The St Johnstone defender was one of the Perth side’s main men as they advanced through one round of the competition and came very close to progressing even further.

But a training ground injury not long after those memorable late summer nights robbed the penalty hero against FC Luzern of several months of football.

He’s obviously hoping the long lay-offs are a thing of the past but, now that he’s back to fitness and form, Scobbie is determined to sample a repeat dose of European football.

And a win over third-placed Inverness Caledonian Thistle today would be a big step towards that.

Scobbie said: “I want to play in Europe again. All the guys will say the same.

“For a club like St Johnstone to get there four years in a row would be a massive achievement.

“They were great occasions at McDiarmid and we want to experience more of them.

“We’re in front of Dundee United now and we want to stay there.

“All we can do is win as many as we can and if it ends up that’s not good enough to get there, so be it.

“At the very least we’ll be going into next season in a positive frame of mind.

“United and Inverness have been in third and fourth for most of the season and we’re looking to put pressure on them. They have been up there all season so have most to lose.”

Scobbie agreed a new two-year contract recently, and he intends to reward the club’s faith in him.

“It’s been a long time getting the contract sorted but I’m happy that it got done,” he said.

“Now we’re looking forward to the possibility of getting into Europe again and things are looking good for the future with lot of other boys having signed up already.

“It wasn’t on my mind. Even when I was coming back from my injury the manager had told me they were looking to get a new deal sorted with me.

“Once I got back we put the wheels in motion and it was just a matter of time before it got completed.

“The club have been great. I’ve had two serious injuries since I’ve been here, so I haven’t managed to get a full season under my belt.

“I’ll go into this close season in good health hopefully, work hard in pre-season and then kick on after that.

“The injuries haven’t changed the way I play the game or view the game. I know I’m fit and strong. The rehab has been excellent.”

John Hughes is a former manager of Scobbie’s at Falkirk, and the versatile defender knows better than most that his old boss won’t allow Caley Thistle to be distracted by the prospect of a Scottish Cup final.

“I know what he is like,” Scobbie pointed out. “When I was at Falkirk and looking forward to the cup final he would be warning the lads that places were up for grabs. There was no let-up.

“He put you under pressure to perform and it will be the same now at Inverness.

“It was always hanging over your head. We know Yogi will be at them to make it a hard game for us and we have to handle that.

“Inverness have been fantastic all season and I don’t see them letting up any time soon.”