Callum Davidson confirmed striker Nicky Clark would miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury following St Johnstone’s draw against Kilmarnock.
The former Rangers and Dundee United frontman picked up an ankle knock in training and as a result, he will not feature again for the remainder of the campaign.
Clark has been a key performer for Saints this term and Davidson admits his absence will be a huge loss to his squad.
He said: “Unfortunately, it looks as though we’ve lost Nicky Clark for the season. He has a high ankle sprain, which requires an operation, which is a blow. He’ll see a specialist next week but it doesn’t look great.”
Davidson was furious with his team’s first-half display as he branded the performance in the first 45 minutes the worst of his McDiarmid Park tenure.
Things did improve for St Johnstone in the second period as they picked up a vitally important point on the road.
Davidson continued: “In the first half I asked the players to do certain things – play the ball forward, put pressure on them, ask questions of defenders, deal with first and second contacts and don’t give away cheap free-kicks and throw-ins near our penalty area – and we didn’t do any of them.
“We’d talked about Kilmarnock and what they’re good at and then allowed them to do all those things, which was disappointing.
“I was very annoyed at half-time because that’s probably the worst first 45 minutes since I’ve been in charge but what I can say is that I was pleased by the way they responded in the second half.
“They managed to regain their composure and it’s sometimes nice to pick up a point when you haven’t played as well as you know you can.
“It was a wonder strike by Drey for the goal so we’ll take the point and move on. He’s probably been my stand-out player this season – he gives me a lot of energy down the right and he’s a threat with goals and assists.
“We had ten players on the treatment table on Monday and some of them only came off it on Friday. I was glad to get the likes of Cammy MacPherson and Andy Considine back on the pitch.”
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