Tony Watt scored his final goal for Dundee United against St Johnstone and Liam Gordon is determined to make sure he doesn’t get his first for St Mirren back at McDiarmid Park.
The pair are former Perth team-mates, with Watt putting an 18-yard shot through the legs of the Saints captain to secure United a late win in an early January Premiership clash.
The man of many clubs has since found himself a new home in Paisley and been a starter for Stephen Robinson in the Buddies’ last two matches.
There has been no goal as yet, though.
And Gordon will be hoping it stays that way in a game Saints need to win to fire-up their top six ambitions.
“Tony is a good lad,” he said. “I can’t speak highly enough of him and he was always up to something here.
“He scored against us for Dundee United not that long ago so we don’t want him scoring again.
“That day it was a game that looked like fizzling out to a 0-0 but it was one shot from the edge of the box and he got it in the back of the net.
“That’s what can happen in football. It’s fine margins.
“We know what we’re going to be up against with Tony, I’ve played with him and against him over the years.”
The Perthshire farmer
One of Gordon’s memories of Watt’s time in the Saints dressing room was his reaction to finding out life in Perthshire is a bit different to life in Lanarkshire.
“My old man has a bit in the countryside with alpacas, goats, chickens, ducks and a few other animals,” he recalled.
“Tony couldn’t get that into his head. He’s a boy from Airdrie and I don’t think he’d ever been to the countryside before.
“So it blew his brain. He hadn’t heard of some of the animals before and he always used to call me a farmer.
“Did I ever take him out to see them? Nah, I wouldn’t have let him near them!”
Watt is a number nine with several strings to his bow – impressive hold-up play and an eye for a goal chief among them.
Closing down a goalkeeper as effectively as Stevie May did to earn Saints a precious victory over the former Celtic man’s parent club wouldn’t be near the top of his skillset list, however.
Determination ✅
2nd of the match ⚽️⚽️
Derby winner 😮💨
Behind the goal footage 🤩@Stevie__may 💙Enjoy 🤝 #SJFC | @spfl | Chris Logan 📷 pic.twitter.com/MqtMYQBsFk
— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) February 20, 2023
“When you see it back on all the videos, on TikTok and stuff, it was a really good bit of play from Stevie,” said Gordon.
“I remember thinking ‘he’s going to get there’ and then the next thing the ball was in the net.
“He’s always pressing from the front and pushing defenders. Stevie and Chris Kane would be two strikers I’d hate to play against because that’s what they do.
“They put defenders and goalkeepers under so much pressure and force mistakes – that’s what happened at Tannadice.
“I’m glad Stevie is on our team and not up against us, put it that way.
“He’s a top professional who puts so much work into it and all the younger players coming through look up to him.”
Looking in the mirror
Having a dressing room of other top professionals has helped Saints turn a form corner of late.
“We had a hard time over Christmas and into January but that’s football,” said Gordon.
“When the going gets tough, we know how to cope with it.
“You have to look in the mirror and decide what you want to be.
“The manager got us going again. That has been a big part of it.
“As a group we have a lot of boys ready and able to take responsibility. We have done that really well.”
Conversation