TAM Scobbie has admitted St. Johnstone's hopes of winning the League Cup semi-final against Hibs on Saturday will suffer a huge setback if they sell Michael O'Halloran to Rangers this week.
Rangers, who had two bids for the 25-year-old forward rejected by the McDiarmid Park club rejected last week, are set to make an another offer for the £500,000-rated player before the January transfer window closes.
However, Scobbie is hoping the McDiarmid Park club hold onto the former Scotland Under-21 internationalist for the until after the game at Tynecastle and for the remainder of the 2015/16 campaign.
“It would be a huge blow if he (O'Halloran) goes," he said. "If we can keep a hold of him for the semi that would be great, but if not we’ll wish him all the best.
“We know that when Mick plays he’ll create chances. He picked out Macca (Steven MacLean) with a fantastic ball against Celtic and caused them problems all day with his pace. He showed why he’s in high demand. Hopefully, he’ll be here to help take us into the final. He’s invaluable to us.
“The club have got to put a value on him from a financial point of view. That’s their decision. It’s up to the clubs and the gaffer to sort that out. But for us, as players, he’s had some performances that have been extraordinary."
Scobbie added: "We’ve got other guys in the squad who can come in and do well in that position if he does go. There’s Graham Cummins, Craig Thomson and David Wotherspoon who can all play wide. Chris Millar could be back as well.
“The manager might be looking about to do some business as well. We’re a squad who come together when people don’t expect us to do well. That’s what we would do. It would galvanise the team. We wouldn’t look at it from a bad point of view."
O'Halloran was left out of the St. Johnstone squad for the Premiership game against Hamilton earlier this month due to speculation over his future by manager Tommy Wright.
However, Scobbie revealed he had been unaffected at being linked with a transfer to Ibrox and is confident that neither the player and the St. Johnstone squad will be at their best against Hibs.
He said: "Since the stories have come out and the bids have been made he’s been fantastic in training. He’s been taking a bit of stick as well. He takes it well. I don’t think it will affect us at all as a team.
“We’ll prepare properly. I think we’re going away to a hotel in a few days as we did for the Scottish Cup semi and the final. We won’t be reading the papers. We’ll just be focused on our training and know that this is another massive opportunity to get to a cup final.
“This week could define our season. If we win it will give us the opportunity to have another final to look forward to and could help us kick on in the league for the remainder of the year."
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