Tommy Wright expects to sign former Northern Ireland under-21 international keeper Conor Mitchell on loan from Burnley.
A deal for the 22-year-old, who was farmed out to Chester last season, could be completed today.
Wright reported: “We’ve got Conor Mitchell up from Burnley and we’re hoping to conclude a season-long loan deal in the next day or two.
“He’s an under-21 international, and with him and Mark Hurst there will be real competition for Zander (Clark).
“We’ve had four or five options but, having brought Connor up, we’d like to get something done with him.”
Saints face Falkirk in the Betfred Cup tonight, with Brian Easton, Joe Shaughnessy, Chris Kane, Ali McCann and Greg Hurst all still sidelined.
The Perth men have yet to concede a goal in the competition after drawing 0-0 with East Fife and beating Montrose 1-0 at the weekend.
“In the context of the group we had to win on Saturday,” said Wright. “Even winning on penalties wouldn’t have been ideal. So we’re pleased to have got the three points.
“The performance wasn’t all that we would have wanted but we’ve kept another clean sheet and our goalkeeper wasn’t troubled. They hit the woodwork late on but we should have been out of sight by then.
“We’re still a work in progress but that’s the case with other teams. When you look at results elsewhere you can see that this competition can be a banana skin for Premiership clubs. There have been shocks.
“It’s now in our hands. If we win our last two games we’ll top the group. On paper you could argue this is the toughest. The good thing is Falkirk need to win and they’ll have to have a bit of a go at us. I’m hoping we can put in a controlled performance and improve the quality in the final third.”
International clearance will be needed to allow new signing Matty Kennedy to feature.
The winger’s fitness certainly won’t be an issue.
“He’s been keeping fit and on the testing we did on him yesterday I think only Murray Davidson would be ahead of him,” said Wright.
