A broken nose isn’t anything new to veteran St Johnstone defender Frazer Wright.
But a broken nose from a team-mate’s boot is.
The former Kilmarnock man was bloodied and concussed after being kicked by Steven Anderson in the match against his old team a fortnight ago.
It meant Wright missed the famous win against Celtic last week but he’s been given the all-clear to resume training and is available again for tomorrow’s clash with Partick Thistle. “It was a sore one,” he admitted. “I wasn’t knocked out but I was groggy and I’d a mouthful of dirt from the pitch too.
“As soon as the physio came on, he told me my eyes were sparkled and that I was coming off.
“I knew my nose was broken. The blood gave it away. I was lying on my side and I could taste it.
“That’s two broken noses this season and I’ve lost count how many times I’ve done it in my career.
“It’s probably getting close to double figures. The first time it happened was when I was under-16s.
“My wife just accepts it now. I get more sympathy from the kids. They look after me.
“It’s just part and parcel of the job but that was definitely the first time I’ve been kicked in the face by a team-mate – when the ball was at head height too.
“He’s lucky it was me and not a striker as it would have been a penalty.”
Wright added: ”I feel better now. At first I was having trouble getting to sleep at night but the physio said that down to the concussion.
“I’m sleeping better now so I will hopefully be okay for the weekend.
“I’m trying to be careful. On the first day back at training, the ball came towards my head and I ducked at the last minute.
“That was strange, as heading is such a big part of my game.
“Playing two games a week is getting tougher but since I got the jag it’s certainly helped. At times you want to play, but you just have to accept, like Macca (Steven MacLean), that you can’t play all the games.”
Wright knows that he may have to bide his time before he gets a recall given the outstanding Saints performance (and result) at Parkhead.
“The boys were brilliant against Celtic,” he said. “We looked comfortable and I felt they ran out of ideas.
“We need to take the same attitude in to the Thistle game and cement that top-six place as soon as possible.
“Saturday will hopefully help towards that and I think we’re gaining momentum at the right time – like we did last season.”