Elliot Watt hasn’t hidden his St Johnstone frustrations from head coach, Simo Valakari.
Conversations instigated by the on-loan midfielder about his prospects of a return to the Perth team, and what he needs to do to make that happen, have been frequent.
And the former Scotland under-21 international backed up the words with actions last weekend, when he impressed and scored as a second half substitute at Motherwell.
Watt was starved of game-time for two months following his previous appearance against Hearts in February.
In the match before that, a mistake on the edge of Saints’ box at Kilmarnock set the ball rolling for a convincing defeat in Ayrshire.
With a reverse fixture against Derek McInnes’ men up next for the McDiarmid Park side, Watt will be highly motivated to showcase his adaptation to Scottish football if given the opportunity.
“Elliot has been coming to see me a lot,” said Valakari.
“He has been very frustrated.
“I’ve always said that I’m very happy to change my opinion of a player.
“It works both ways.
“They can only change my opinion through their actions.
“It’s not been easy for Elliot, but he has kept his head down.
“The opportunity came, and he grabbed it with both hands.”
Valakari believes there will be a sharp opposition style contrast Watt and his Saints team-mates will have to deal with on Saturday.
“Every game is different,” he said. “In the Motherwell game, when Elliot came on there was a lot of space to play.
“It won’t be the same against Kilmarnock.
“Their press will be more man to man orientated.
“We will need to be really good with the ball.
“And, of course, we need to learn from the last time we played Kilmarnock.
“It wasn’t just about Elliot what happened there.
“Everybody needs to be aware that the pressure will come.
“One pass and they will go and press.”
Man v man
Valakari added: “Kilmarnock are a balanced team.
“If we play an up and down game against them it will be difficult because they are very strong in this type of game.
“Ross County actually played a good first half (before losing 2-0 last weekend).
“But Kilmarnock can score from nothing.
“Their forwards have very good movement, so we need to be switched on all the time.
“And when you come up against a man-orientated press, sometimes you need to go over it.
“That means positioning yourself well for it and then fighting for second balls.
“Win those and it gets you up the pitch and makes it more difficult for them going man v man.
“Against Celtic we went man v man – and showed that if you do it well, even for the top teams it is hard to break it.
“We need to be very good with the football ABCs.”
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