Craig Levein is backing the returning Nicky Clark to help St Johnstone get the goals they need to stay in the Premiership.
Clark has been a big miss for Saints this season, with the veteran striker enduring a frustrating time with injury.
The fact he has tended to find the net when available illustrates how potentially valuable he could have been this season.
Manager Craig Levein is confident that by carefully managing Clark’s current return to action, he will be available for every game until the end of the season
And the Saints boss believes it is also only a matter of time until Adama Sidibeh, whose fitness advantage sees him creeping ahead of Benji Kimpioka in the pecking order, starts finding the net on a regular basis.
Levein said: “I was speaking to Nick [Nicky Clark] on Monday morning and he’s starting to look really good.
“Touch wood, all of his injury issues are behind him and, not just that, he’s got minutes under his belt, he’s been training every single day without any issues and he’s looked really good.
“That gives me hope that we can get a fair wind between now and the end of the season with him.
“That then gives us somebody who’s a proven goal-scorer on the field – for every minute of every game if possible.
“Nicky’s the one that everybody would recognise has been our main threat and we just haven’t had him on the pitch often enough this season.
“I make a point of saying this now because our lack of goals is sometimes down to a lack of chances we make, other times it’s about not having that experienced head who can take a breath inside the penalty box.
“I’m very confident that he’s fit and ready to go and I think it’s good timing for us.”
On Sidibeh, who was given the nod to start up front against Celtic, Levein was effusive in his praise, as Clark has also been.
He said: “I looked at Adama, his ‘expected goals’ are something like two-and-a-half, or something like that.
“He’s hit the target with a lot of his shots, keepers have made great saves, there have been loads of blocks.
“Adama’s a lot fitter than Benji, who’s a wee bit behind.
“Benji is a bit up and down in training and I don’t think we’ll see the best of him until next season, when he gets a good pre-season under his belt.
“He didn’t have a huge number of games before he arrived with us. We knew that, of course.
“But Adama has been playing week-in, week-out down in England. His stamina and energy is high.
“I actually sent a video down to his previous manager of the chances he’s had. He’s invariably hit the target on all of them.
“There are great saves, blocks, there was a blatant handball against Hearts that was missed, that was going in.
“Nobody can accuse Adama of not putting the effort in.”
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