St Johnstone striker a doubt ahead of Hamilton clash

Apr 4 2008

SAINTS hitman Stevie Milne yesterday emerged as a major doubt ahead of tomorrow’s trip to league leaders Hamilton. The prolific goalscorer has been suffering from the effects of a sickness bug and was due to be given the once-over by the club doctor as PA Sport went to press.

While potentially losing Savo’s services would be a major blow to St Johnstone, manager Derek McInnes revealed that other key men who have been struggling for fitness are ready for the fray.

Long-term absentee Martin Hardie shook off similar symptoms to Milne’s to play for 45 minutes in Monday’s bounce game at Morton and he’s set to make a long-awaited first-team return after an uninterrupted week’s training.

Full back Goran Stanic who was taken off before the end of last weekend’s draw with Dunfermline has also proved his readiness and looks a certain starter tomorrow.

Skipper Kevin James, who has only started two games all season, is also in with a chance of making the eleven after a strong showing behind closed doors at Greenock.

McInnes, who said a heel injury looks like keeping central defender Stuart McCaffrey out for the rest of the campaign, is hoping his charges can maintain a decent record against championship-chasing Accies.

The McDiarmid men have twice beaten the New Douglas Park outfit in Perth this term, but went down to a single-goal defeat at Hamilton in December. Tomorrow’s encounter will be Saints’ penultimate fixture before the Scottish Cup semi-final against either Rangers or Partick on April 20.

With a clutch of proven dangermen, including Richard Offiong and David Graham, at Accies’ disposal, McInnes sees the game as a perfect chance to sharpen up his side up ahead of their outing to the national stadium.

“Accies will be wary of us, but if I was in their shoes I’d see this game as a big step towards winning the title,” said McInnes. From my point of view, we’ve got to get back to winning ways because we’ve got a massive game coming up in a couple of weeks.

“Regardless of who we’re playing at Hampden, we need to go into the semi-final with confidence.”

Although McInnes would have preferred his comeback men to be running out on grass tomorrow, with just the home clash with Morton on Saturday week to go before the semi-final, he has little option but to see how they fare on Hamilton’s widely unpopular plastic pitch.

“I’ll be playing my strongest team on Saturday,” he confirmed. “It’s well documented that I don’t like Hamilton’s pitch because I don’t think we should be playing on any artificial surfaces.

“By the same token, we’ve done well on it in the past, so there will be no excuses if we lose the game.”

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* MIDFIELDER Barry Wilson has returned to Inverness Caledonian Thistle after completing his month’s emergency loan.

CASTING an envious glance up at Hamilton’s league position, Saints boss Derek McInnes heaped praise on his Accies counterpart, endorsing Billy Reid’s claims to the Scottish manager of the year award.

“Billy’s done ever so well,” said McInnes. “He’s been building a team in the last couple of seasons and Hamilton were a good side last year.

“He’s found a real consistency this season, they’re difficult to beat and their home record is fantastic.

“To only lose three goals all season is unheard of. Billy has to take credit for the progress his players have made over the period.”