Shaun Rooney has a chance of making a rapid return from injury against St Mirren, St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson has revealed.
The Hampden hero rolled his ankle in the defeat to Livingston three weeks ago, with Saints’ League Cup semi-final against Celtic the target for his comeback.
But, such has been the speed of Rooney’s progress this week, Davidson hasn’t ruled him out for Saturday.
And there was more good news for the Perth boss to report.
Lars Dendoncker and Murray Davidson should both be available.
“Lars will be fine and Murray came through training OK,” said Davidson. “He was struggling a bit before the United game.
“We’ve Liam (Craig) back from suspension and Shaun is making good progress. So is David (Wotherspoon).
“Those two will be Friday decisions.
“That just leaves James (Brown) and we’ll see how he is with his hamstring. With those sorts of injuries you can be more susceptible to breaking down.
“We have to make sure he is 100% with some big fixtures coming up after the break.”
Davidson added: “Shaun is ahead of schedule. He is desperate to get back out there.
“He has come on leaps and bounds in the last few days. We will see just how close he is to returning by Friday.
“We’ve an international break coming up but that doesn’t really come into my thoughts with them. I really want the three points on Saturday.
“It’s down to whoever is fit and available.”
Lars finding his feet
Dendoncker shone on his Saints debut against Dundee and was playing very well again before picking up his groin injury in the Hearts game last midweek.
“Lars has been really good now that he has got used to the pace and intensity of the game up here,” said Davidson.
“He is a big, strong athlete who can run, move and pass the ball well. It’s the same with Hayden (Muller) and James too.
“It’s great to have options, especially with us playing the three at the back. We have good variations there.”
