Given the way they are playing at the moment, St Johnstone playmaker Kevin Moon admits he faces a real fight to get into the first team although he is determined to rise to the challenge.
After the 25-year-old played his first full 90 minutes of the season in the 4-1 League Cup win over Queen’s Park, his cameo substitute appearance at the end of Saturday’s 2-1 win over Kilmarnock has raised hopes he could push for a regular starting slot this season.
With Saints winning their last five league outings, Moon acknowledges imposing himself on a somewhat settled starting line-up is easier said than done, but the midfielder is keen to repay the faith shown in him by his hometown club.
Moon has already battled through adversity in his career, having been forced to spend months on the sidelines in 2010 following a cruciate injury, but he battled back to win an 18-month extension to his contract at the end of last year under Steve Lomas.
”I’ve had a hard year so even getting on the bench is good for me, but obviously Murray (Davidson) and Midge (Chris Millar) have both been playing really well,” he said.
”I know myself I need to be patient and you can’t expect to change the team when you are doing so well. But I just need to be ready to take my chance if and when it comes.
”I’ve been out through injury in the past but it was great to make a comeback on Saturday, even if it was just for a minute or two, so hopefully I can play a few more games this season.
”Obviously I want to play as many games as I can but under the current circumstances and with things going so well, you can’t really argue if I’m on the bench. I want to play every week and it’s not been ideal but I just keep on working hard in training.”
Moon has been delighted with the way Saints have turned things around this season after a slow start, although he maintained the players and management team were always confident of doing so.
”People put a bit of pressure on us at the start of the season, saying we didn’t have the best start and hadn’t picked up as many points as we could have,” he explained.
”But you just need to take a look at our squad we all knew we would come good. The attacking options alone are really good this season, so it was just a matter of time.
“We rode our luck at times but the manager had confidence the results would come, and they have. The players would never let what happened at the start of the season affect them and the manager kept us really positive.
”It took the Celtic game for our luck to turn but we’ve been playing well and getting results ever since, which is great.”