Blair Alston is hoping his stunning goal against Rangers on Wednesday night will be just the first of many in a St Johnstone jersey.
The 24-year-old joined Saints in the summer from Falkirk and had played 13 times for his new club without hitting the back of the net.
It was lucky 14 at Ibrox with the midfielder scoring a goal of the highest quality, curling the ball past helpless Rangers keeper Wes Foderingham.
Alston said: “I mentioned recently that I’m confident I’ll score goals at the club.
“I still feel that is the case and there is no reason why I can’t. Hopefully it’s the first of many.
“We’re going to create a lot of chances in games and hopefully when I’m playing, I can take some of them.
“My goal was one of those ones where, sometimes, they go miles over the bar and sometimes they go in. It’s good to get my first goal because it’s something I’ve been waiting for.
“As soon as I hit it, I thought it was going in.
“I’m delighted to get off the mark but it’s more important to get points off the back of it. To get a draw at Ibrox was a good result.”
Saints boss Tommy Wright and his players felt they were probably deserving of even more from the game and Alston believes that illustrates just how far the club has progressed in recent seasons.
He added: “We go into every game believing we can win, which sounds a bit of a cliché.
“Coming to Ibrox and talking afterwards about maybe deserving three points shows how far the club has come in the last few years.
“Hopefully this year we can keep that going. It’s another cliché but it’s now about taking each game as it comes.
“Saturday now becomes the important game for us and if we get three points against Partick, then we’re in a great position. We just need to keep picking up as many points as we can.
“We’re going into games with lots of confidence and we feel like we’re playing well.
“There is no reason why we shouldn’t be looking up the table, rather than behind us.”
However, Alston is taking nothing for granted against a Jags side boosted by their midweek win against Dundee at Dens.
He said: “After a good result, Partick will be looking to take a few points off of us. But we’ll approach it the same way and hopefully take three points.
“They are definitely the kind of games you need to be winning to stay up the table.
“Every game is equally important. But there is no point in getting a good point then chucking it on Saturday.
“We need to try and play the way we did on Wednesday night and the result will hopefully take care of itself.”
