A night spent trying to sleep in the back of his car was an inauspicious start to Dara Costelloe’s season with St Johnstone.
But the on-loan Burnley man is happy he didn’t take himself straight back down the road to Lancashire after a Perth hotel mix-up left his back ‘in bits’ for his first McDiarmid Park training session.
“I like it up here,” said Costelloe. “It’s good and I get on really well with the lads.
“It’s certainly been different to the first night I spent in Scotland where I had to sleep in my car!
“I’d agreed to sign so drove up from Burnley late in the day and didn’t get to Perth until after midnight.
“I was booked into a hotel and they said there would be someone to contact to check-in after hours.
“But when I got there, I knocked on the door and phoned the number I was given but couldn’t get hold of anyone.
“I chapped on some windows as well hoping someone would hear me but nobody got up.
“I looked to see if there were any other hotels but nothing was available, so I had to give up and sleep in my car.
“I had all my stuff in the back with me because I’m up here for a year so it was packed, and there was hardly any room.
“Even though it was summer it still got pretty cold at night and my back was in bits the next day!
“Eventually someone appeared at the hotel and was able to let me in, so I got an hour’s kip before coming in for my first session.”
The Irishman added: “It wasn’t the best of starts and I was thinking ‘what have I done?’.
“It was maybe a sign sent to test me to see if I could stick it out!
“But since then everything has been great and I’ve really enjoyed it.
“I’ve made some good friends here and there’s a really good team spirit around the club.
“All the lads get on great and it’s a good place to be.”
New skills
Costelloe was recruited by Steven MacLean as a versatile forward but Craig Levein – and Alex Cleland in his one game as caretaker boss – have utilised the 21-year-old as a wing-back on both sides of the pitch.
“I’m still getting used to the wing-back position,” he said. “I need to learn how to play it better and that’s what we’ve been working on.
“I think I can play there.
“The gaffer and Kirky (Andy Kirk) have been telling me the things you need to do to be successful in that role, encouraging me and pointing out the things I should be doing.
“It’s a learning curve but one I’m embracing because I’m here to learn and everything I can pick up is a good thing for my development.
“I came here as someone who plays higher up the pitch, so things like facing up to a winger going the other way one-v-one is new to me.
“But I’m working on it. I’m brushing up the defensive side of the game and I’m confident I’ll get there.
“I’d never played that position before.
“So if I can learn how to do it and have another string to my bow while also helping the team, then it’s great for me.
“Long-term, it can only make me a better player.”
Back in the starting XI
Costelloe has been a second half substitute for Saints’ last three games and re-establishing himself as a regular starter is an obvious short-term McDiarmid Park goal.
“Things have been going well for the team,” he said. “We’ve turned it around and got ourselves out of the relegation places at the moment.
“Personally, I am trying to get back into the team because I missed out through suspension and injury when the manager first came in.
“I’ve played a few times but I want to get a regular place, so I need to knuckle down and fight for a start.”
Saints face bottom of the table, Livingston on Wednesday night, with opening up a 10-point gap on their opponents the incentive.
A first St Johnstone goal for Burnley loanee Dara Costelloe 🇮🇪⚽️👏
He's had a difficult time since his Clarets breakthrough but he's back on track and ready to go full steam ahead 🚂💨#COYBIG pic.twitter.com/Y3mTplLqKj
— Ireland Radar (@IrelandRadar) October 2, 2023
“Livi are a physical, direct team so it’s a big challenge playing them,” said Costelloe, who opened the scoring in September’s 1-1 draw.
“We played well against them for most of the game in Perth but they finished it strongly.
“I would imagine it will be a similar kind of game this time around as well.
“We want to get as far away from the bottom spot as possible so it’s big for both teams.”
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