Zander Clark feared he would have to leave St Johnstone to establish himself as a Premiership goalkeeper because Alan Mannus looked like he could “play forever”.
But now the Perth number one has clocked up 100 top flight appearances he looks back on his battle with the Northern Irishman as the making of him.
Clark got the taste for first team football on loan at Queen of the South.
But he had one of the best goalies in the country, and a Saints cup-winning legend, stopping him from making the breakthrough at McDiarmid Park.
“Looking back to when I first came into the first team squad, playing 100 games seemed a long way away,” said Clark, whose four clean sheets in December have helped get Tommy Wright’s men away from the bottom of the table.
“Alan Mannus was the number one and he looked like someone who would play forever.
“He has always been super fit and with the shape he’s in, I reckon he’ll probably go on for another few years yet.
“Working with him was brilliant for me because he brought the best out in me.
“I knew I had to improve massively to get into the team ahead of him.
“There were points that I thought it wouldn’t happen and I’d have to move on.
“It crossed my mind when I came back from my loan at Queen of the South because I’d got used to playing every week.
“Once you have had that it’s hard to let it go again, but I knew I had to give it a go here.”
Clark added: “Alan is one of the greatest keepers to play for the club so getting past him was always going to be a hard one.
“I remember getting my break once when he was sent off. I played two games and we had two good results but then he was back in straight away when his ban was up.
“I couldn’t argue with that because of what he’d done for the club in the past, so you just have to take it and wait for another chance.
“It was difficult and moving on did cross my mind, but deep down you don’t want to give up playing for a Premiership team.
“So that battle with Al was the making of me, to be honest.
“We still keep in touch, we speak regularly and he’s loving being back in Ireland.”
