Zander Clark has given the perfect response to being left out of the last Scotland squad, according to his club manager.
And St Johnstone boss Callum Davidson believes the Tannadice hero is stating a powerful case for a quick-fire recall.
Clark was Saints’ Tayside derby man of the match – producing six magnificent saves to break Dundee United hearts and protect the Perth side’s 1-0 lead.
“Zander was outstanding,” said Davidson. “Some of the saves were phenomenal.
“All credit to him because he didn’t let his head go down when he didn’t get back in the Scotland squad.
“I think if any manager is watching that today they’ll think it was a decent performance!
“Zander reacted to it the right way. I told him to keep performing at a high level and he’s doing that.
“He’s done it in big games against big teams.”
High press and then hanging on
It was excellent play and a clinical Ali Crawford finish that earned Saints their half-time lead and heart and commitment under second half siege that ensured they held on to it.
“I thought we were excellent first half,” said Davidson. “We pressed really high up and they only had a chance from a set-play.
“Apart from that, our pressing was really good and we played some good football as well.
“I brought Ali Crawford in to give us that bit of quality when we get into good areas.
“His goal was a fantastic finish and it’s great to see him get a consistent run of games.
“If he can keep producing moments like that then we’ll be delighted.”
A big week
Davidson added: “It was a big week for us – playing Celtic, Hearts and Dundee United.
“We have a lot of injuries too, so we were hanging in.
“But that’s when you need your goalie and he produced some moments of magic.
“We were down to the bare bones in midfield.
“We didn’t have Liam Craig, David Wotherspoon and Murray Davidson was on the bench even though he’s not fit.”
We enjoyed that one 👏🏻#SJFC pic.twitter.com/gU0pzntIGp
— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) October 30, 2021
Davidson paid tribute to the Saints’ travelling support for the part they played in making sure his team saw the game out for a narrow win.
“The fans were fantastic,” he said. “They always give us good backing at Tannadice and in that last 15 or 20 minutes they helped us get the result.
