St Johnstone's Collin Samuel is raring to beat his 16 goals

Nov 24 2009 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

COLLIN SAMUEL has set his sights on posting a personal best this season.

The Trinidad and Tobago striker headed Saints towards three points against Hearts with his seventh of the SPL campaign.

And yesterday Samuel revealed he’s eager to beat the 16 goals he bagged for Falkirk in the First Division.

Samuel burst onto the scene in Scotland by snatching a cup hat-trick against Hearts but the Tynecastle win marked a personal milestone.

He explained: “I’d scored against everyone else in the SPL during my time in Scotland but not Hearts. So it was good to put that right.

“I fancy my chances of beating the 16 for Falkirk but I have to keep taking the chances and I’m trying to be more consistent.”

Samuel welcomed the return of midfielder Kevin Moon after long-term injury problems, particularly with luckless Martin Hardie resigned to missing the rest of the season, with surgery planned this week on his ruptured cruciate and medial ligaments.

Samuel said: “Kevin did really well after coming on against Hearts. We upped the tempo after half-time and it must have been good to watch. We showed real spirit to come back from 1-0 down.”

Samuel, who goes out of contract in the summer after being plucked from Toronto, has been linked with interest from Premiership outfit Wigan. Saints are keen to extend his stay but he is free to talk to clubs in January. Samuel was playing his cards close to his chest. He said: “I don’t know anything about Wigan. I’m just concentrating on my football. I will just wait and see about the contract situation. Anything is possible.”

International colleague and ex-Saint Jason Scotland has impacted on the Premiership, although he was on the wrong end of Saturday’s horrendous 9-1 lashing from Spurs.

Samuel chuckled: “I haven’t spoken to Jason for a couple of weeks but I’ll be in touch about that result. I couldn’t believe it. I’ll have to see what happened.”

Fans favourite Hardie listened to the Hearts match on the radio at home, counting down to surgery after the full extent of his injury became clear.

He goes out of contract at the end of the season and faced similar uncertainty in his Kilmarnock days.

He stressed: “It will take character to come back from this but I have that in abundance. It’s strange but I’m actually looking forward to the operation so I can focus on the rehab with physio Nick Summersgill. We have already discussed our plan.

“It is a sickener because I’ve been part of every squad and I was really enjoying the SPL. But players have come back from much worse than this, especially with medical advances.

“I was delighted for the lads that they won at Tynecastle and Mooner got a chance.”

Derek McInnes said Hardie had been an integral part of his squad and colleagues felt for him.

“We have to ensure when he comes back we are an SPL club,” said McInnes.

MCDIARMID hosted an ALBA Challenge Cup final thriller on Sunday with Dundee beating Inverness 3-2.