ST JOHNSTONE boss Callum Davidson has revealed that cup-double winning hero Shaun Rooney is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines with an ankle knock.
The 25-year-old, who netted in both cup finals last term, limped out of an October clash against Livingston and has never fully recovered.
Rooney sat out Tuesday’s defeat to Hearts as Saints suffered a ninth successive defeat and Davidson has now revealed that his right-sided defender is set to see a specialist about his injury.
Davidson said: “We’ll get some news on Monday and hopefully it will be good news. But for the moment he’s going to be out for the foreseeable future.
“He’s a big character and personality in the dressing room and a big player on the pitch.
“But for me it’s all about other players stepping up to the mark and showing me they want to play, not by words but by actions.
“Training has been really good and the attitude has been fantastic since we’ve come back.”
The Perth outfit will aim to bounce back to winning ways when they travel to Kelty Hearts in the Scottish Cup on Saturday.
And despite a 2-0 loss at Tynecastle on Tuesday, Davidson was able to take some positives from his side’s display.
He said: “First half at Hearts we played like the old St Johnstone. There were signs of improvement – things I hadn’t seen in a wee while.
“We had energy and belief and there was character about the team. We were better in and without possession.
“The players believe in what they’re doing and they believe in each other.”
Given last year’s extraordinary cup double, Davidson knows the potential significance of Saturday’s game.
He added: “I don’t think people realise it’s a huge game for where we are. It could give the team that little bit of confidence. That’s why I’m taking this game so seriously.
“Hopefully we can get a result and then build a bit of momentum going into the next league game.”
In terms of transfers, Davidson confirmed the club are still trying to get some deals over the line.
He added: “People know we’ve got funds to spend but it’s difficult because it’s about getting the right balance between what the signings are worth and what you think they’ll bring to the team.
“Agents can give you players who aren’t quite up to speed or available when you think they are.
“We’re not really a club that are flushed with cash either but it’s not just me, there are other clubs and managers going through the same thing.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here