St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson hopes to have all four key men who missed the Perth side’s comeback win against Ross County available for the trip to face runaway Premiership leaders Celtic on Christmas Eve.
But the players who got the job done in the Highlands have staked an impressive claim to stay in his side.
Alex Mitchell, Ryan McGowan and Melker Hallberg will return from suspension, while goalkeeper Remi Matthews has a week to recover from illness.
Davidson has squad depth that will be the envy of many clubs in the league, though.
And it certainly showed in the thoroughly deserved 2-1 victory over County.
🔼 St Johnstone are up to fifth after coming from behind to beat Ross County ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/d0rkLaxrQu
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) December 17, 2022
“We were missing four players from our starting line-up,” said the Saints boss. “Three through suspension and one with illness.
“For us to perform the way we did really pleases me.
“All three of the suspended players will be back and hopefully we’ll have Remi available as well.
“To not only win but get a performance like that as well shows the strength of the squad – we played some really good football.
“We’ve got a lot of competition – in midfield Dan Phillips did very well and Cammy MacPherson is just behind him.
“And the players who came on during the game made a difference.
“Drey was in the dressing room saying centre-half is quite easy. He ended up playing right centre-half for me.”
Crawford close to starting
The most significant substitute impact came from Ali Crawford, of course, who scored twice in two minutes after replacing David Wotherspoon a few minutes before County captain Jack Baldwin was sent off.
“I’m delighted for Ali,” said Davidson.
“He was very close to starting.
“His performance level in training and in matches has been very high.
“It’s great for him to get the two goals.”
The red card made it attack v defence but Davidson believes his team had already exerted potentially game-winning dominance before Baldwin’s clumsy first touch and foul on Stevie May.
Tricky team talk
“I was actually quite pleased with the first half performance,” said Davidson, whose team went behind to a Jordan White header.
“But going in at half-time a goal down made it quite a strange team talk.
“We were doing a lot of good things but I just felt we could be a little bit better in the final third.
“I told them that if we kept asking Ross County questions, we’d get chances.
“I wanted our midfielders to get a bit higher and get closer to Nicky and Mayso.
“After they got the man sent off, like at Hibs, we managed to capitalise on it despite being a goal down.
“We showed the courage to get the ball down and get in behind them.
“The players showed they were desperate to win for the fans who had travelled up.
“It shows the character of the team that, as at Easter Road, we took advantage of the situation that presented itself.”
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