The battle for a place in the St Johnstone frontline is set to be fierce in the coming season, but it doesn’t faze new signing Marcus Haber.
The Canadian international is one of a trio of forwards to agree deals with the Perth club over the last few days Cillian Sheridan and Francisco Sandaza being the others. They’ve joined fellow summer recruits Sean Higgins and Carl Finnigan, at McDiarmid Park, along with Sam Parkin and Stevie May.
Six into two or at times one doesn’t go, but former West Brom man Haber is fired up by the challenge.
“There is certainly a lot of competition here now,” he said. “There are more strikers than we had at this time last year when I came here on loan, but I look on that positively. It just means that it should bring out the best in everyone.
“Whoever is playing will be in the best form, which is a good healthy thing to have at a club. The gaffer likes to have a lot of forwards in his squad and we will all use that as motivation.
“We have a few guys here who will score goals this season. It’s good to have firepower in every part of the team.”
There has been no need for Haber to take time to acclimatise himself to his surroundings, as he went through that process 12 months ago. The demands from boss Derek McInnes this time around are clear.
Haber admitted, “I know the manager and I know what he expects from me. He wants me to hit the ground running and I have no problem with that.
“I won’t approach it any differently being a real St Johnstone player rather than being on loan. I just want to be out there with the team and contribute. Nothing changes in that respect.
“There was a bit of a delay getting the deal done, but I knew they had a place for me here and it was just about agreeing the final terms.Feel fit”In the end it was quite a rush getting the paperwork sorted out on Friday so I could play in the Aberdeen game, but I am happy to be here. I really feel at home and I also feel pretty fit. I know I can go 90 minutes because I did that against Dundee.
“I have had pre-season games here and in Ireland and the big test was at Aberdeen when I came off the bench. I felt fine after that one and it’s now about playing. My body feels fine.”
The trialist experience of the last few weeks was a new one for the attacker whose season was cut short by a cruciate ligament injury in November. Haber believes he got himself into the right mindset from the start, when he joined the Saints squad in Ireland.
He explained, “Players take it in different ways, but for me I took it as one training session at a time. I had to treat them as normal sessions. It was easier this time around because I had been here before and I knew what was expected of me.
“I kept an eye on how the team was doing last season as I recovered. I was here long enough to form real bonds with the guys in the dressing room and it is good to be back.”
Saints’ first home match on their new grass is against Rangers on Saturday, and Haber is deteremined to be involved.
“It’s Rangers this weekend and I played against them at Ibrox last year. It will be very exciting playing against the champions if I am given the opportunity to start. I’m sure it will be a good game for the fans as well.”
Saints keeper Alan Mannus has been named in the Northern Ireland squad for their Euro 2012 qualifier against the Faroe Islands on Wednesday, August 10, at Windsor Park.