Zach Mitchell has a chance of playing for St Johnstone again this season.
And the fact that the player himself is hopeful he will recover from his hamstring injury before the end of the season is fuelling head coach, Simo Valakari’s optimism.
“Zach is keen to see how it goes,” said Valakari.
“It’s a good sign that he feels he can try to get back this season.
“We both see the situation the same way.
“Hopefully he can get back and play again for us.
“It’s a big motivation for him.
“Seeing a loan player so determined to come back is great to see.
“Of course, every player wants to recover from an injury as quickly as possible, but Zach also wants to help the team.
“The plan is for him to stay with us for a couple of weeks – our physio will be hands-on with him because she knows the injury.
“He might go back to (parent club) Charlton and we will get a second opinion about what the next step will be.”
Free hit
Meanwhile, Valakari believes Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final clash with Celtic is the nearest thing to a football “free hit”.
“In the league zero points has consequences, even against Celtic and Rangers,” the Finn explained.
“It affects our position in the table.
“The cup is all about the winners.
“Nobody believes we can win this match. So, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
“I would call it a positive free hit.
“We have used the cup and league separately.
“Every week before a cup game we haven’t talked for one single minute about the league.
“It’s the same now.
“There’s no fear, only possibilities.
“I want the players to feel that this is a special week and a special day.
“They should feel that they have done a good job to get this far.
“But when the game starts, we need to make sure we don’t play the occasion.
“Of course, they will feel nerves.
“We have to use them to give us positive energy. The weight of the game, the occasion or the opponent can’t bring us down.
“The players deserve to be in the semi-final.”
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