Steven MacLean and his St Johnstone players have earned the Perth club the luxury of two stress-free games before the 2022/23 football season comes to an end.
There’s no such thing as dead rubbers when you’re an interim manager.
And MacLean will want to find out as much as he can about his squad ahead of what is likely to be his first transfer window as a head coach and his first season as the permanent Saints boss.
Courier Sport examines five selection topics for the Ross County and Livingston matches.
Same again, Cammy
Prior to Saturday, only the real diehards would have seen Cammy Ballantyne in St Johnstone colours this season.
Twenty-three minutes as a (goal-scoring) substitute in the penultimate League Cup group fixture in Elgin was the sum total of his game-time.
That MacLean trusted the 23-year-old for such a season-defining match as the Kilmarnock one, when it would have been far easier to turn to senior pros, tells you Ballantyne has caught the eye in training over the last few weeks.
The selection was utterly vindicated, with Ballantyne looking perfectly at home in the 4-1-4-1 system deployed.
Giving him more minutes doesn’t even feel like a gamble, such was the level of his performance.
Melker Hallberg will still be out and Ballantyne should get a second (and if that goes well, third) start in a row.
Next season’s number one?
It would be a huge shock if Ross Sinclair doesn’t play one of the last two games.
He might even play both.
Remi Matthews’ work is done, having been the reliable goalkeeper a bottom-six side needs.
Just ask Dundee United fans how important one of those is.
But he’s here on loan and MacLean needs to know if Sinclair is ready to be the number one next season.
He’ll probably require to see the former Scotland under-21 international in the League Cup to make his mind up on the McDiarmid Park goalkeeping situation for 2023/24 but that evaluation process will surely start this week.
Left-back or left out for good
That Callum Davidson chose to play James Brown on the left side of his defence when Adam Montgomery was unavailable told you where Tony Gallagher was in the pecking order under the last Saints manager.
But it’s a back four these days and, like Brown, the former Liverpool player is more suited to full-back than wing-back.
The Maltese international has thrived in his favourite position during the last three games and could Gallagher emulate him?
You’d like to think MacLean will attempt to bring Montgomery back for another loan next season, such has been his impact, but conclusions need to be arrived at as far as Gallagher’s ability to cut it in the Premiership is concerned.
If he doesn’t feature over the next few days, they may already have been reached.
Back to the future
Some would say that Zak Rudden and Theo Bair should now be getting starts but I think there would be more value in reuniting Stevie May and Chris Kane for as long as is prudent, taking into account the latter’s lack of match fitness.
Bair moving on (or being belatedly loaned out) and Rudden returning to Dundee are the likeliest summer scenarios for those two.
2021 | Liam Craig makes a record breaking 442nd appearance for St Johnstone in a 3-1 defeat of Dundee at McDiarmid Park. Chris Kane (2) and Stevie May are on the scoresheet as loan signings Lars Dendoncker and Cammy MacPherson make their debuts.
🎬> https://t.co/It0h9xDjS0 pic.twitter.com/G33Nmhrhnk— Saints On This Day (@SaintsOTD) October 2, 2022
I think there’s more benefit to see if there’s chemistry between the double cup-winners, who haven’t actually played together as a partnership as much as you might think.
A fourth centre-forward will be a close-season transfer priority whatever happens, though.
An academy graduate
It would be nice if one of the promising crop of under-18s gets a late run-out off the bench in front of Saints supporters on Sunday.
As a striker, Jackson Mylchreest probably has a better chance than Scott Bright on Bayley Klimionek, the other two shining lights of the team that reached the Scottish Youth Cup semi-final.
80 minutes played ⏰
The goal that got us level 🤝
Jackson Mylchreest doing Jackson Mylchreest things 🔥 #SJFC | #YoungTeam pic.twitter.com/EbQyba1QdW
— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) January 27, 2023
Mylchreest has been in match day squads already, isn’t slight of build and was talked-up by Davidson recently.
On the back of Ballantyne’s shock Rugby Park appearance, a debut for the 16-year-old would reinforce the belief that MacLean is a Saints manager-in-waiting who won’t be afraid to put his faith in a young player and incentivise others in the academy.
Nothing sends fans into the close-season break feeling better about their club’s future than a rough diamond sparkling in the early summer sun.
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