Tommy Wright turned down the opportunity to follow Steve Lomas to Millwall so that he could take the manager's job at St Johnstone.

The former Northern Ireland goalkeeper was confirmed as Lomas' successor yesterday, and he will be assisted by the club's former defender Callum Davidson.

Lomas agreed to move to Millwall last week, after 18 months in Perth in which he twice guided the side into the Europa League qualifiers. Wright now has the chance to build on the progress Lomas made. Although still on holiday, he has begun to discuss a new contract with Frazer Wright and will also be seeking reinforcements for his squad.

"Steve asked if I was interested in going to Millwall but I wanted to stay here," Wright said. "I hadn't thought too much about becoming a manager again because I was enjoying my job as Steve's No.2. But when the opportunity came up and the chairman spoke to me about it, I was delighted the club wanted me to stay on."

Steve Brown, the St Johnstone chairman, did not even interview other candidates because he was convinced that Wright was the ideal candidate. "Tommy was the obvious successor to Steve Lomas," Brown said. "We were delighted with the impressive quality of cvs which flooded in, but we didn't look to interview any other candidate."