St Johnstone's Andy Jackson gets deal

May 7 2010 by Gordon Bannerman, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

St Johnstone: Andy Jackson gets deal

INJURY plagued striker Andy Jackson was given good news yesterday when manager Derek McInnes teed-up a six-month contact to get his career back on track.

Medial ligament surgery and an achilles operation on the back of bouts of illness which saw him hospitalised have thrown the striker’s development plans into chaos over the past two years.

And he was facing an uncertain future as his current contract ran out.

But the centre, who has been capped at U21 level by the Republic of Ireland, now has an opportunity to revive his career at McDiarmid Park.

Yesterday, McInnes said: “We have given Jacko a contract through to the end of the year and it is up to him to take advantage of the opportunity.

“I have seen signs in the last two or three weeks of the Andy Jackson we remember and were waiting for. He has a real hard time of it but it has taken far longer than we ever imagined to get him to this stage.

“He now has to keep progressing and showing the right approach. We know what he is capable of but we have stepped-up a level since he was scoring goals regularly here. Injury aside, he has to be in tip-top physical condition to give himself a real chance.

“He won’t lose the knack of scoring goals and he can be an exciting player again for us. We are hoping he comes back in good shape for pre-season and kicks-on from there.

“Jacko is fortunate enough to have been given a contract despite not playing a lot of football. I hope he works hard for the reward of a new deal at the end of this one. That is the incentive which is there for him. I’d love to see him playing and scoring goals for St Johnstone for many years to come.”

McInnes revealed he was assessing a 6ft 5ins German goalkeeper in training.

Michael Langer has limited experience in the Bundesliga with Stuttgart and Freiburg, where he has is out of contract.

The manager said: “We are having a look at him after he was recommended to us. That’s as far as it goes at the moment.”

Youngsters being released from McDiarmid are Martyn Shields, Ross Alexander, local lad Darren Kelly, Sean Porter, David Heagney, Matt Hemsley and Kieran O’Hear.

McInnes is keenly anticipating tomorrow’s lunchtime clash with seventh place rivals Hamilton. And he’s hoping Perth fans turn out in numbers to show their appreciation for the players’ efforts this season.

“I’m glad there is something riding on the game. We are unbeaten in five and Accies are going well. There’s an edge to the match because both sets of players are driven.

“If Billy Reid and I were given the chance to go head-to-head on the last day for seventh place at the start of the season we’d have grabbed it. We are all looking forward to the final game.

“There are bragging rights for seventh and cash for the club. Bring it on!

“It would be good to have a decent turn-out. The players acknowledged the away support at Falkirk because they have cheered us on in decent numbers. Hopefully we can reward the home fans with another win to cap a season with some memorable results.”

Winger Filipe Morais is out again with a knee injury and McInnes has to decide whether he should risk midfielder Liam Craig, who was spared duty at Falkirk as he’s one booking away from a ban.