Craig Levein admits he is now “comfortable” playing two strikers for St Johnstone – thanks to the fledgling partnership between Nicky Clark and Adama Sidibeh.
The Saints boss admits he has been reluctant to use two front men for much of this season.
But the return to fitness of experienced goal-getter Clark, allied with January recruit Sidibeh’s growing confidence, means Levein is now confident enough to sacrifice a player in midfield to accommodate two up top.
“I’m at the point where I’m comfortable playing two strikers,” he told Courier Sport, ahead of Saturday’s clash with Hibs at Easter Road.
“I wasn’t at one point. I didn’t think we were getting enough with two up top, so I was adding another midfield player.
“But I think the front two are justifying their positions and I feel we’ve got a better chance of scoring goals with them there
“Adama has been really good this week. He’s pouncing on loose balls in the box and smashing them home.
“He’s really got a powerful shot and his pace will hurt anybody – and his willingness to work is the other thing.
“I’m hoping he and Nicky are going to play again together [against Hibs].”
In Hibs, Saints face a side boasting pace, power and goals in the attacking third.
That makes them dangerous,
But Levein, whose side turned in one of their best performances of the season in beating the Leith outfit at McDiarmid Park in December, believes their forward-thinking approach also leaves them vulnerable.
“Hibs’ style of football is one of concentrating more on the attacking side than the defensive side,” he said.
“So it’s a wee bit like what Ange Postecoglou did at Celtic – the focus is on the attack.
“You do get chances against a team playing like that though.
“I don’t think Nick Montgomery bothers too much about that. It’s just about ‘can we score more than the opposition?’
“That’s their type of game, I think. Certainly looking from afar, that’s the style of football.
“So the good thing about our performance against them at home was we defended really well and managed to nick a goal.
“They’re a different team with the new players now though. They’ve raised the levels.”
He added: “They’re a good club, they’ve got good players and they’ve got the input of money from Bournemouth, which obviously helps.
“They’ve got players in there who are on pretty good dough compared to what our boys are earning, so it’s a challenge.
“Part of my frustration last week was for the players – they could do with a wee carrot for their performances.
“Although we didn’t get anything from the Dundee game, there was certainly enough there to show we can put on a good performance.
“They’ve also shown they can go away from home and win.”
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