St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright has been told by his players “don’t rest me”.
The Perth boss gave young winger Craig Thomson a late run-out in Saturday’s Tayside derby, and revealed he is hoping to give other McDiarmid Park players of the future a taste of the first team before the season is out.
But also in his mind is the message that has come out from the dressing room that the senior pros don’t want to be stood down ahead of the Scottish Cup final.
Wright explained: “I’ve got to be fair to the players who have got us into this position and I’ve got to be fair to the other teams in the league.
“It’s about getting a balance because I would like to introduce some of the younger players.”
“We brought Craig Thomson on towards the end of Saturday’s game. He’s a winger who has done really well. He had a couple of injuries earlier in the season but he’s been training with the first team in the last two or three weeks.
“He’s fitted straight in. The lads trust him, which is important. I try to get as many under-20 games as possible. Alec (Cleland) and Callum (Davidson) have been working with them.
“I judge them on what I see when they go in with the first team training as well. Chris Kane did really well, Craig has, and so did Ally Gilchrist and Gareth Rodger. There are a few coming through.
“I’d have no problem starting two or three of them but the first team boys all want to play. I’ve spoken to one or two and the first thing they say is ‘don’t rest me’.
“We take what they say on board and how they’re feeling.”
Wright admitted that the fact that European qualification through the league is outwith Saints’ reach will make his thinking clearer as the campaign draws to a close.
He noted: “The beauty of our situation is we don’t have to risk people. We’re guaranteed top six and we have a massive game at the end of our season so we can afford to err on the side of caution.
“If we were fighting relegation or had a chance of the top three we would maybe have to risk players with a niggle. But we don’t have to do that.
“If I do leave a couple out I don’t think it will weaken us.”
Meanwhile, Wright is proud to have his name mentioned in the manager of the year discussions.
He said: “If you look at it there could be half a dozen guys who deserve to win the manager of the year award. Neil Lennon has won the title again at Celtic, while Stuart McCall has done a magnificent job at Motherwell.
“Stuart has lost big players again but has maintained high standards and kept them very consistent. Derek McInnes has resurrected Aberdeen and Jackie McNamara has done really well at Dundee United.
“Then at the other end, Alan Archibald has got results at Partick Thistle even though plenty of people thought they’d be a shoo-in for 11th place.
“And then there’s Gary Locke, who has had loads of problems to deal with at Hearts and has handled himself very well. So you could make a case for plenty of guys because there are so many managers doing really good work this season.”