Zander Clark enhanced his Scotland credentials with a high-class performance against Motherwell in front of national team manager Steve Clarke.
And club boss Callum Davidson believes his St Johnstone goalkeeper would be worthy of squad selection as the World Cup qualifying campaign resumes next month.
A hero against Galatasaray in midweek, Clark was at the top of his game again in the 1-1 draw with Motherwell.
Though Saints played some superb football and passed up several good chances to put the match beyond their opponents, they also had their goalkeeper to thank for three stunning saves.
62' | SJFC 1 – 0 MOTH
Zander Clark called into action again.
Pulls off another fine save.#SJFCLive
— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) August 8, 2021
“He pulled off saves when he had to and kicked well when he had to,” said Davidson.
“That’s how he’s been playing for the last six months so long may it continue for me, and if he gets a call-up then that’s brilliant too.
“He followed on from his performance in Istanbul. That’s what he’s in the team for.
“What Zander probably doesn’t get credit for is his kicking. He’s very good with the ball at his feet. I thought today you saw that. His all-round performance was tremendous.”
Jason Kerr would have been another Saints player Clarke would have been keen to see in person, you would imagine, but he missed the game with an ankle injury.
“Hopefully Jason will be OK (for Thursday night’s return leg against Galatasaray),” said Davidson.
“He just rocked his ankle on Thursday. We just need to see how it settles down. Craig Bryson is on the way to recovery. We’re not far off a full squad.”
Hayden Muller takes his chance
Kerr’s absence gave Hayden Muller the opportunity of a competitive debut and the on-loan Millwall youngster fitted seamlessly into the Perth backline.
“Hayden was very composed and very good on the ball,” said Davidson. “He’s got a good range of passing.
“I thought it was a good game for him to see how he handled this level and he handled it really well.”
Glenn Middleton’s second debut for Saints was also an eye-catching individual performance.
“He’s played games,” said Davidson. “Last time, he was a wee bit off fitness-wise but he’s played games for Rangers and I thought you saw his quality.
“He’s a real threat going forward. I thought he played really well. Obviously he can’t play on Thursday night but it was good to get him out on the pitch.”
Reflecting on Saints’ third successive draw, Davidson said: “For the neutral it was probably a good, entertaining game.
“I thought there were chances at both ends and I thought we probably dominated possession territorially but not taking our chances.
Disappointed to drop a couple of points but equally have to accept that Zander Clark forced into several good saves. Helpless for Watt’s equaliser to O’Donnell's own goal opener.
— St Johnstone 1884 (@stjohnstone1884) August 8, 2021
“Zander has pulled off a couple of great saves to keep us in the lead, but for me, the disappointing thing was in the last 10 minutes. We tried to take a quick throw in and five seconds later it’s 1-1.
“That’s a little side of it. See games out, slow it down, take your time. I know we wanted to score the second to make it easier but 1-0 up with 10 minutes to go, I expect us to be a little bit better there.
“If I flip it round, my strikers and forward players got into good areas and we need to take our chances.
“It’s really important when you’re playing at that level Sunday and Thursday, you’ve got to do a bit better in front of goal.
“I don’t think they could have done any more energy-wise to win the game. I’m pretty happy with that. Obviously, I’m disappointed we didn’t get the result but I’ll take that level of performance.
“The players who came in (there were five changes) showed a real appetite for the game, a real hunger to get in the team. They all want to play in Europe as well. They all want to get in the team. It’s good competition for places.”
