IF Steven Anderson is expecting grapes, he is on to plums.
The St Johnstone defender has spent the best part of the weekend laid up in bed at Dundee's Ninewells Hospital, following Saturday's 1-1 draw with Partick Thistle - the end result of a fateful slip which caused his side to lose a goal and his thumb to lose its sense of direction in a freak injury which would make even Quincy feel squeamish.
As his colleagues were left to claw their way back into this grim tussle, Anderson was rushed to A&E in Perth before being hurried to Tayside for late-night surgery. Those he left behind will have to get used to his absence; the former Dundee United youth is expected to be out for up to two months as a result of his tumble. It was a horrible moment which drew screams from the 27-year-old, gasps from the stand and panic among first aiders, but little compassion from his team-mates.
"You don't get any sympathy in this game - the boys are going to go and buy him one of those big foam hands," said centre-half Frazer Wright. "Ando was in a lot of pain and was screaming - he stood up and his thumb was pointing the wrong way. I'm sure the boys thought he had stayed down because he had made a mistake. It looked a right sore one."
The presence of Anderson and his foam finger in the stand for the foreseeable future will do little to aid the Perth club's quest to meet their supporters' heightened expectations. Tommy Wright and his team have been victims of their own early success: a tremendous win over Rosenborg in a Europa League qualifier, coupled with a tally of seven points from a possible nine in their first three league games, raising the bar for their season. Their performances have since stagnated somewhat - two points from the following five SPFL Premiership games - as they battle against the tide of, frankly, unrealistic hopes imposed upon them.
Saturday's offerings in front of a sparsely attended McDiarmid Park generated some optimism that a corner to be turned may not be too far away. Despite the absence of Anderson, their backline dealt fairly well with the threat of Partick Thistle - his name is Kris Doolan - while David Wotherspoon looked assured on the left flank with a series of neat touches and quick turns to link up play with the front pairing of Steven MacLean and Stevie May.
The creativity of the former Hibernian man will be telling this season if St Johnstone are to lift themselves any higher than eighth in the table, especially if Murray Davidson and May are as ineffectual as they were against Thistle. "I was impressed with Partick - I thought they did really well," added Wright. "It was a mistake for their goal when Ando slipped then in the second half [Partick goalkeeper] Paul Gallacher had a few saves to make, so a draw was probably a fair result."
Thistle, too, are perhaps suffering from a burden of unfair expectation. Last season, Alan Archibald's side were often far superior to their opponents as they earned promotion to the top flight. Yet understandably the Firhill club's fans have endured a more frustrating start to this landmark campaign, with a home win yet to be witnessed in the league. The early signs, though, suggest Archibald has enough in his armoury to stabilise the club and guide them to somewhere in mid-table. They were the better team for much of Saturday's contest and enjoyed the majority of the possession, with Doolan and his quicksilver team-mate Kallum Higginbotham the main outlets.
"It's always nice to get an early goal to get you up and running so I was delighted to get that," said Doolan after scoring his second goal of the season in the sixth minute. "I thought at that point we might get more than a draw but then we know how difficult it is to come here and get anything. It was a physical game. We were unlucky they got back into the game but overall we deserved at least a point out of it - it's a point gained for us.
"Once we get a wee rub of the green and start finding that final pass to put someone in for a clear chance then we'll start picking up more points. Today we did a lot better in the final third so the signs are encouraging."
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