St Johnstone 2 St Mirren 1: Davidson hopes to receive higher calling as a Saint

Graeme Macpherson

Football Writer

Monday 8 October 2012

MANAGERS, upon receipt of individual accolades, tend to pass on the credit for their achievement to their players.

Nigel Hasselbaink gave the hosts the lead against former club St Mirren. Picture: SNS

Custom byline text:

GRAEME MACPHERSON

So if Steve Lomas was the best manager in the country in September for overseeing four wins and a draw then it stands to reason he did so with Scotland's in-form players.

Why, then, no clamour for St Johnstone players to be drafted into Craig Levein's squad this week for the key World Cup double header against Wales and Belgium?

In the aftermath of Saturday's 2-1 victory over St Mirren – a fifth successive victory that took St Johnstone up to fourth in the table – Lomas made a case for his captain Dave Mackay's inclusion as one of the most consistent right-backs in the country. Steady and reliable as Mackay is, however, at 32 years old it is unlikely to envisage him earning a Scotland call-up in the autumn of his career.Murray Davidson, however, is another matter. The midfielder is still just 24 years of age and has been called up twice before by Levein without seeing any action. His goal against St Mirren – that extended his team's lead following Nigel Hasselbaink's opener – was his third of the season, a respectable return for a player not noted for his exploits in front of goal.Davidson has no plans to sit by the phone this week awaiting Levein's call but still hopes to represent his country at some point in the future. There is a school of thought that players at lower profile clubs are often unfairly overlooked for international selection – Callum Davidson felt he had to leave St Johnstone to finally get capped – but his younger team-mate hopes continuing to play in Perth won't harm his chances."I have been in a few [Scotland] squads before but I have to keep plugging away at St Johnstone," said Murray Davidson. "I know Scotland have a lot of coaches and scouts at games and I would like to believe that it wouldn't matter what club you are at – you'd be selected regardless."St Johnstone's turnaround from being a team that couldn't buy a victory to one that can't stop winning has been one of the stories of the season so far. Davidson, though, was always confident his side would come good, despite a sticky start."Every year I have been here, we never start well," he added. "We were bottom of the league for a while but we just kept doing the same things because you have to keep believing and don't let it affect you. We knew if we stuck together results would improve."St Mirren can only dream of such consistency. Only once last season did they record back-to-back league victories and it has been similarly up and down this year, with Danny Lennon's team failing to build on good results. Lewis Guy's goal early in the second half gave them a lifeline in Perth but they were unable to find an equaliser, leaving them instead to contemplate another defeat the week following a win."We have a longer wait than usual because of the [inter-national] break but, hopefully, we can get back to winning ways," said David van Zanten, the St Mirren defender.

Contextual targeting label:

Sport

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

St Johnstone 2 St Mirren 1: Davidson hopes to receive higher calling as a Saint

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED