St Johnstone would have the attacking power to cope with the departure of Aberdeen-bound Matty Kennedy for the rest of the season, according to Michael O’Halloran.
But Kennedy’s fellow McDiarmid Park forward hopes that theory doesn’t get put to the test.
Courier Sport understands that Kennedy has agreed a pre-contract with the Dons despite Hearts entering the conversation recently.
That is now likely to be followed by an attempt to take him to Pittodrie before the month is out.
O’Halloran, no stranger to January transfer uncertainty himself in previous years, said: “First of all, it would be disappointing to lose a player of Matty’s quality.
“You want as many of them at the club as possible.
“But the manager has got plenty of options in wide areas and if the club decides he can go then we’ll get on with it as a team.
“I’m looking forward to this second half of the season.
“There was a busy spell of games when I came here this time last year but I’m much fitter than I was then and I’m raring to go. I’m desperate to play as many games as I can.
“I think we’ve got games in midweek for five weeks in a row.”
Before the Premiership resumes, Saints are in Scottish Cup action against Morton. A repeat of their early Betfred exit needs to be avoided.
“We were so disappointed to go out in the Betfred,” said O’Halloran. “That was a group we should have won.
“We probably owe the fans in the Scottish Cup.
“It was a poor start, going out of the Betfred Cup at the group stage and then taking that form into the league.
“We were losing games that we shouldn’t have been losing. It came from losing silly goals as a team.
“But after we got our first win we picked up and the second part of it we did well. We were on a decent run before the break.”
It is clear where Saints need to improve in the next few months.
O’Halloran explained: “We’re getting clean-sheets and now it’s about putting the ball in the net more and turning draws into wins.
“You can pick a few of those draws out and say we were unfortunate – none more so than the one against Ross County before the break. It’s incredible to think we nearly lost that.
“We’re definitely looking forward to the second half of the season.
“We’ve got a real threat with our attacking options so we should be scoring more goals.”
The return of Chris Millar, should he be fit to play for Morton, will be a reminder of Saints’ greatest cup day, their 2014 win.
“There aren’t many of us left here from that cup final,” said O’Halloran.
“I’ll always cherish the memories of that day. It would be nice to get a good run. It’s been a while since the club have had one.
“Midgey will be wrapping himself in cotton wool for this one.
“He’s a great lad and was obviously a great servant for this club.
“He was in my car school. I don’t get as much of a headache coming into training anymore.
“I’m not a morning person and he’s the exact opposite. He’d get into the car screaming. I always wanted one of those screens that could come down in front of the back seat. That would have been ideal to give me some peace!
“I liked a bit of shut-eye on the way up to Perth.
“When I first signed for the club it was me, Easty, Midgey and Gary Miller. That was a good set of lads.
“I travelled with Midgey all the time he was here. I’ve not spoken to him for a while so it will be good to catch up.
“I’m sure he’ll be fired up to do well.
“You miss the players who used to be here. Midgey was good for banter because he would always bite. Everybody was always on his case.”
