St Johnstone keeper hoping for more first team action

Two starts and two wins against Aberdeen.

Zander Clark’s Premiership career with St Johnstone has been an impressive one so far.

After being given a chance on Friday night against the Dons, the young keeper is hoping that his clean-sheet will have persuaded manager Tommy Wright to let him keep the gloves against Ross County at the weekend.

But if Northern Ireland squad man Alan Mannus is brought back, the 23-year-old, who first got his break when Mannus was sent off against Dundee United, won’t be throwing his toys out of the pram.

“It has been frustrating because you become so used to playing,” said Clark, who became a first regular on loan at Queen of the South.

“But there is always going to be a time in your career when you need to sit on the bench.

“I’ve had absolutely no qualms about it. Alan has been great for the club and has helped me massively during my time here.

“Every day when I come into training I learn something new. I’m still young enough for a goalkeeper so I know I have a lot of time.

“We’ll just need to wait and see for the rest of the season. I felt I played well on Friday so it might give the manager something to think about.

“But if I’m back out for the next game then I’ll still be pleased that I put in a good performance against Aberdeen. I’ll just need to sit tight and see what happens.”

It wasn’t until a few minutes from the end of the Aberdeen match that Clark was tested, having to turn a free-kick round the post.

And he paid tribute to the work done by his outfield team-mates in keeping the Dons at bay.

“The boys were all magnificent in front of me,” he said. “There were plenty of last ditch challenges and I’m struggling to think of a time when we lost a header from a dead ball situation.

“Everybody is together here and knew that there was a job to do.”

Clark added: “It was great to get the win, especially as the performances haven’t quite been there in the last couple of games.

“And it’s pleasing for me personally to keep a clean sheet because that’s what you aim to do in every game as a goalkeeper.

“It was a great feeling when the final whistle went. But it was more important to get the three points.

“Putting right my little slip from earlier in the season against Aberdeen was nice too. The boys were giving me a bit of stick about that in the build up to the game.

“There was a great chance for me to keep a clean sheet at Pittodrie in the 5-1 game. So that was disappointing.

“But, as I say, it was great to put that right on Friday night.”