Loan star Peter Pawlett is keen to be back in the mix after finally returning to training with St Johnstone.
The welcome mat was out at McDiarmid Park on Thursday as Pawlett reported for work with Saints for the first time since injuring his hamstring a month ago.
The Scotland under-21 international, who is with Steve Lomas’s side until the end of the year after making the switch from Aberdeen, now comes into contention for at least a substitute’s role when Kilmarnock travel to Perth on Saturday.
He is delighted to be out in the fresh air after spending the last few weeks in the treatment room at Pittodrie.
“I was just getting going with Saints after starting against Dundee United and having a decent game against them, then we had the massive win over Celtic,” said Pawlett.
“I was then looking forward to the Ross County match but on the Thursday before that one I tore my hamstring. It was very frustrating but it’s four weeks now since it happened.
“This is me back at training now for the first time so hopefully everything goes to plan from hereon in. I would like to be involved on Saturday but I also don’t want to do anything stupid.
“My hamstring is still a wee bit vulnerable so I don’t want to push it too hard. I have done my hamstring in the past and it’s kind of automatic to want to get right back into the team and go 100% at things in training.
“Maybe I need to be cleverer this time and ease my way back in.”
Pawlett is, of course, returning to a club that has the feelgood factor thanks to that five-game winning streak four in the SPL and one in the League Cup.
It is the best run of top-flight results since the Willie Ormond era more than four decades ago.
Saints boss Steve Lomas is well aware of the historical nature of the current sequence of victories and is determined to keep the run going beyond the visit of Killie.
“We know Kilmarnock are a dangerous team who can hurt you,” said Lomas. “They attack the opposition and have players like Cillian Sheridan, James Dayton, Gary Harkins and Liam Kelly, who are all decent footballers.
“We would love to keep the run going for as long as we can but I am sure Killie will see it as a winnable game.
“Our run could be used as a motivational tool for them and they will be saying to themselves that we have to lose sooner or later.”
While Pawlett’s return is a bonus, Saints still have a few injuries to contend with.
David McCracken has tweaked his calf and Callum Davidson is still not ready.
Paddy Cregg might be able to do some running, while Jamie Adams and Steven MacLean are still injured.