St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright is happy that his plan of attack is ready to be launched at Kilmarnock.
Saints kick off the Premiership campaign at Rugby Park on Saturday and Wright is satisfied that he has everything in place at the business end of the pitch.
“I have had a clear plan of what I wanted,” said Wright.
“I have been looking to get more quality at the top end of the pitch since January.
“I think I have achieved that.
“David McMillan came here back in January but it’s been like having a new player after being on the receiving end of a horrible challenge in his first game.
“He has shown he can get us goals.
“He is the type of striker who pops up and scores.
“Maybe at times he has done too much work outside the box but he is a finisher and the movement for his goal at Forfar was excellent.
“Tony Watt will be a good signing if he keeps improving and gets to the level he should be at and we have Chris Kane and Callum Hendry.
“They can all play in different systems, which gives me options.
“You can add to that Matty Kennedy and Drey Wright, who have settled in well and look a threat in the wide areas.
“We are still looking to get one more player in and getting through from the group stages should hopefully help us get the midfielder we want.
“The key is that we have looked solid in the games so far and our full-backs are getting higher up the park.
“But with due respect to the teams we have played up to now Kilmarnock will be the toughest test so far.”
The Perth men arranged a training match against a Hearts side yesterday in order to help those needing game time.
Wright said: “We set up a bounce game with Hearts at the Oriam in Edinburgh to give a few of the lads who haven’t had much game time a run.
“Mostly it was for the youngsters who have been on the fringes as the injured lads weren’t ready.
“It was still too early for Kane, Brian Easton and Joe Shaughnessy.
“Kano has also been suffering from tonsillitis.
“None of them will be in with a chance of playing at Kilmarnock.
“We always knew it was just down to time for Joe. The cut on his leg has to be fully healed or it will just open up again.
“It was a really nasty one and he did get stitches but it is in an awkward place and they didn’t help much.
“We’ve been doing all we can to move it along and he has been working with the physio but he hasn’t been able to train since we came back from Austria. We just have to let Mother Nature take its course.
“Joe is a generally fit lad and that will help. Hopefully it won’t be too long before he is back but he has no chance for Saturday.”
Meanwhile, Wright is reasonably happy about Saints’ being paired with Championship side Queen of the South in the Betfred Cup last-16 draw, albeit will mean a trip to Dumfries on the weekend of August 18-19.
He said: “The aim was to qualify as Betfred Cup group winners and hopefully be seeded.
“We achieved that so the players should be happy with how we have started the season.
“We have Queen of the South away next but I wasn’t too concerned with who we got out of the pot.
“We will certainly be well prepared in terms of playing on plastic pitches.
“They are a good side with a potent striker in Stephen Dobbie but, as always, we will fancy our chances to get through to the next round.
“The priority right now is getting ready for the league, which is where we are always judged over the course of a season.”
