Craig Levein’s defensive options at St Johnstone are starting to shrink after the Perth boss confirmed a double injury blow.
On-loan Aston Villa defender, Kerr Smith, sustained a hamstring injury in a midweek closed-doors match that has ended his season prematurely.
And, with Dare Olufunwa also currently on the sidelines and Sam McClelland and James Brown out on loan, choices at the back are diminishing.
“Kerr injured his hamstring in a bounce game we had during the week,” said Levein.
“It’s a blow for Kerr obviously – and us.
“We’ve got Dare out at the same time.
“He went over his ankle, which has kept him out of the last couple of matches. He’ll miss this one as well.
“It leaves us with six defenders in total.
“At least we don’t have a two games a week fixture list now.
“We can wrap some guys in cotton wool if we need to.
“But I certainly wouldn’t want to get any more injuries in that area.”
Bravery needed
Saints face a daunting challenge after their return from a free weekend – Celtic away.
“We obviously need to be good defensively,” said Levein.
“Then it’s a case of can we be composed in possession and be brave enough to go man against man at the back at times and trust ourselves.
“If we let them get into their stride it will be a tough afternoon.
“We’ll need to do a lot of things well to get anything from the game.”
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