Fears that St Johnstone forward Jamie Murphy sustained a serious knee injury have been allayed.
The former Hibs and Motherwell man was sidelined for the Perth side’s recent victory against Kilmarnock.
His knee became swollen in the wake of the previous Friday night’s triumph at Easter Road, when he was introduced as a second half substitute, and there was enough concern at McDiarmid Park for the 33-year-old to get a scan.
Manager Callum Davidson has confirmed that the results of that were positive and Murphy could be available to face his old club, Rangers, this weekend.
“We got Jamie’s knee scanned and it’s good news,” the Saints boss reported. “There’s just a bit of swelling and it’s nothing serious.
“Hopefully be the end of the week he’ll be back in full training.
“Jamie’s not actually sure how it happened. It was in the Hibs game.
“It puffed up that weekend and it was concerning.
“Thankfully, it looks like it’s settling down now.”
Graham Carey gamble
Murphy’s absence opened the door for Graham Carey to make his first start in nearly two months and Davidson was delighted with the Irishman’s contribution to Saints’ narrow win.
“I know what I’m going to get from Graham,” he said.
“It was a wee bit of a gamble putting him straight in but I knew he’d give us composure in there, which is something we’ve been lacking a wee bit.
“He was the one who got the ball down and got us playing.
“There were times when we broke on them well and worked the balls to the sides.
“Graham was always looking for a forward pass.
“To get the minutes out of him that we did was brilliant.
“We didn’t know when he was going to tire. It was a heavy pitch on Saturday.
“I thought he coped very well on it.”
Conversation