IF THERE was any doubting Liam Craig’s commitment to the Perth cause after he signed a pre-contract agreement with Hibs last week, there is not anymore.
The midfielder put in a typically wholehearted performance against Motherwell on Sunday, and he insisted that will be his benchmark for the remainder of his time at McDiarmid Park.
Craig was in excellent form at Fir Park in the 3-2 defeat, and scored Saints’ second with a trademark long-range left-foot strike.
He said: “The opportunity has come up to go to another club and one where I feel I can go and do well.
“But that is in the summer and right now all I am focused on is getting St Johnstone back into the top six and into Europe.
“It has taken a lot of hard work over the last few years and I’m definitely not one to back off or down tools in the last six months of my contract. As far as I’m aware I will be here to the end of the season and I’ve got to play well to keep myself in the team.
“The last five-and-a-half years have been excellent and the club has been brilliant to me. So there is no way I will down tools.
“I will give everything. If I’m not playing well the manager will take me out and that’s why I have to make sure I am putting in the performances.”
Craig pointed out that his commitment to the Saints cause will also include doing his best if and when he comes up against his employers-in-waiting.
He said: “If I face Hibs it would be great to go in and score the winner.
“St Johnstone are still paying my wages, I’m a Saints player and that is my focus. I love the club and it has been great to me.
“Fans pay good money to support us and they deserve players to perform well.”
At 3-0 down against Motherwell, with defensive lapses and lack of a killer instinct in front of goal being exposed, the outlook for Saints looked pretty bleak.
But a spirited comeback, which almost earned them an unlikely point, has put a different complexion on the defeat.
Craig said: “We didn’t play too badly but found ourselves 3-0 down.
“Motherwell didn’t have to work too hard for their goals but if you go away from home and lose three you can’t really expect to take anything from the game.
“We gave ourselves a chance at the end with two good goals and were maybe unfortunate not to take a point.
“But the game had been more or less over with 20 minutes to go.
“Michael Higdon is a top finisher and that’s a couple of hat-tricks he has got this year.
“But we are disappointed because the second and third goals just fell right to him rather than a defender.
“We can take a lot of positives from the game. We created a lot of chances and just need to be a bit more clinical and the results will come.”
On a personal level, Craig is relieved to be back on the goal trail, having now scored in back-to-back games.
He said: “It was good to get the goal but disappointing not to get anything from the game.
“I scored three in a week back in October and hadn’t scored again until the derby win over Dundee at New Year.
“I need to add more goals to my game. It helps your team out and if we are going to be successful everyone has to chip in with goals.”
enicolson@thecourier.co.uk