Fran Sandaza has been backed to end St Johnstone’s goal drought by his manager and the Perth team-mate who knows him best.
Boss Derek McInnes and former Dundee United colleague David Robertson both enthused about the Spaniard’s debut performance against Dunfermline on Saturday.
The 26-year-old’s substitute appearance was a shaft of light on an otherwise gloomy day for the McDiarmid Park club, who remain goal-less in the SPL after three matches.
Robertson, a fellow weekend substitute, said: “I hope Fran has given us a taste of things to come. He came on and did really well. He held the ball up well and went on a great mazy run to win us the penalty.
“He’s also a good goalscorer. That’s what he was known for at United. We could do with that in the next few weeks.
“It hasn’t happened for him in the last couple of seasons but I have spoken with Fran a few times since he came in and you can tell he has that hunger for playing football and scoring goals again.”
Robertson, who came close to levelling the scores against the Pars with a glancing front-post header he thought was destined for the top corner, added: “I think anyone watching the game would say we had the better of it. They had one chance and scored.
“Unfortunately we have only ourselves to blame but it will come good. I didn’t play well in the Rangers game so I half expected to be on the bench against Dunfermline. I had no case for myself and I can’t complain about the manager’s decision to use me as a sub.”
But now he is eyeing up a starting berth for Sunday’s trip to face Celtic in Glasgow, with the Parkhead side sweeping aside his former United mates 5-1 at the weekend.
“We have had a tough start with an away trip to Aberdeen and two games with the Old Firm. But you have to play them at some time. We just have to keep believing in ourselves and each other and we will be fine.”
McInnes is also convinced he has players at his disposal to end all talk of a second season of goal-scoring misery.
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He pointed out: “Fran’s debut was encouraging and his first impact on the game was immediate to win the penalty. Fran had the confidence to want to take it and that’s fine by me because I have been in teams where no one wanted to step up.
“Fran hadn’t done any pre-season work and that was a concern for us. He had been working away on his own. We tested him for an hour against St Mirren in a bounce game and he tired quite badly.
“We have to be fair to him but he showed signs against Dunfermline he can be the player we want him to be for us. It is early days but I believe Fran can be very productive. We know he is a quality player and this is a big season for him.”
Left-back Callum Davidson was sidelined by a thigh injury but he should resume training later this week.
Long-term absentee Sam Parkin is undergoing treatment for ankle inflammation but it shouldn’t hold back his rehab and Kevin Moon is receiving attention to a hand injury.
Marcus Haber took an ankle knock but should face Celtic.
Looking back at the Dunfermline defeat, McInnes said: “The result is a real disappointment and a missed opportunity. We started well and forced them to change their shape to try and counter us. Our keeper had little or nothing to do and the goal we conceded was disappointing.
“It is all right saying you are the better team but it was a similar scenario to many of last season’s games. But there were a lot of positives and we will get better as we go along.
“We will have to claw back those three points somewhere else because it was a game we were looking to win.”
With two weeks until the transfer window closes, McInnes confirmed he is still keen to draft in a winger on loan.
He stated: “We had seven or eight targets in mind over the summer and there are still two or three I would be happy with. The team is screaming out for a wide player and someone who enjoys playing out there. We felt we needed that sort last season and it is still the case.”