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.

St Johnstone flying high in Scottish Premiership table for minutes played by under-21 footballers this season

Ali McCann has been outstanding for St Johnstone during 2019/20 campaign
Ali McCann has been outstanding for St Johnstone during 2019/20 campaign

St Johnstone are second in the Scottish Premiership table for minutes played by under-21 footballers this season.

A global study by the CIES Football Observatory – covering 1,292 clubs and 93 divisions – has revealed only Hearts pip Saints when it comes to youngsters getting an opportunity during the 2019/20 campaign.

Just over 20 per cent of Jambos minutes are attributed to the Tynecastle club’s starlets with Saints’ figure sitting at 18.8 per cent.

Former boss Tommy Wright, whose departure was announced on Saturday, said in March that 20-year-old Ali McCann deserved to be crowned Scotland’s young player of the season and in contention for the overall award.

Wallace Duffy and on-loan Celtic kid Anthony Ralston, both 21, have featured for the McDiarmid Park side this season while Callum Hendry – who turned 22 in December – has scored nine goals in 27 appearances.

Speaking to The Courier last month, Wright said: “There are a lot of perceptions in football.

“One was that I was not interested in young players and that St Johnstone don’t play them.

“That is a lot of rubbish. You need to be good enough to get in the team and it does not matter if you are 18 or 38.

“What we have done should give all the young players the encouragement to make sure they give everything every day in training.

“If they develop and listen, opportunities will come.”

Slovakia’s Super Liga, at 29 per cent, is the top division for under-21 minutes compared to the Scottish Premiership’s 13.4 per cent figure.

CEIS Football Observatory say: “Early professional experience is key to succeed in football.

“Great discrepancies exist between clubs and leagues in the opportunities given to young players to prove their talent.”


Scottish Premiership U-21 minutes league table (%)

Hearts – 20.6

St Johnstone – 18.8

Celtic – 18.7

Hamilton Accies – 18.3

St Mirren – 18

Motherwell – 18

Aberdeen – 14.3

Ross County – 11.2

Livingston – 7

Kilmarnock – 6.8

Hibs – 6.6

Rangers – 1.7

Callum Davidson and John Robertson are frontrunners to replace Tommy Wright as St Johnstone manager