James McPake has hailed on-loan St Johnstone striker Chris Kane for rising from his sickbed to break his duck with Dunfermline.
Kane missed last Tuesday’s goalless draw with Inverness Caley Thistle due to illness.
However, despite training just once after that, on Friday, the 29-year-old declared himself fit enough to start Saturday’s visit of Ayr United.
And the Saints double-winner turned in a superb display in the 2-0 victory as he grabbed his first goal for the club.
It was a self-made strike, putting pressure on and then robbing Sean McGinty of possession before calmly finishing in a one-on-one with Josh Clarke.
It was a performance that drew praise from boss McPake, who is in no doubt of the marksman’s qualities.
He said: “His all-round play is excellent – the fouls he gets you, the way he brings other people into play.
“But he is a goal-scorer. I know people will look at his stats but he’s been playing in the Premier for ten years.
Double-winner
“Outside Celtic and Rangers I don’t think there will be many players who have played that many times.
“He won a cup double and was pivotal in that team, really important for Callum Davidson and the St Johnstone team that won the double that season.
“He’s a good, good player.
“He only trained once last week and that was on Friday because he was ill.
“But his energy and his hold-up play, and then to get the goal… If you see the finish, you can see why he’s been playing in the Premiership.
“It was a tough finish, but just the way he presses and then goes and finishes. I’m delighted for him.
“He’ll be tired, he’s been ill and then trained one day. But it was another great shift from him.”
Meanwhile, McPake has also been thrilled with the way on-loan Livingston defender Miles Welch-Hayes has settled into life at East End Park.
The right-back made his home debut against Ayr after a start against Inverness and a late substitute’s appearance in the 3-1 win over Partick Thistle.
‘A good defender’
McPake added: “It’s going to take him time to get to know everybody. He knows who they are, but in the way they work, the way we want to do things, because we’ve been limited in what we can do on the training pitch.
“I’m pleased with him. He’s a great lad as well. He’s experienced, he’s come in, he’s loud, and he’s a good footballer.
“First and foremost, I think he’s a good defender, and he’s shown that.”
The 27-year-old also provides a threat at set-pieces, both with his long throws and when adding an aerial presence for corners and free-kicks.
McPake said: “He’s a big lad. He goes and attacks it well. He’s good at defending set plays and good at attacking set plays.
“We know how big they are in games and it’s something that had been annoying us for a wee while.
“His long throws are brilliant. We just need a giant striker, a six foot five Peter Crouch.
“We could be throwing it in from everywhere.
“It’s good fun that. I like a long throw and now we’ve got two with Josh [Edwards] on the other side.”
