CALLUM DAVIDSON has told of his delight at being able to welcome back Murray Davidson into his squad ahead of tomorrow's Scottish Premiership clash against St Mirren. 

The tough tackling midfielder has had a torrid time with injuries of late after missing the tail end of last season with a broken arm before straining his achilies during an abundance of lockdown runs. 

With Liam Craig suspended after his red card against Hibs last weekend, Saints were running low on the central midfield front. 

But after a long lay-off, St Johnstone boss Davidson has confirmed that his namesake will be back involved for the battle of the Saints at McDiarmid Park this afternoon. 

“It is great to have the likes of Murray Davidson back involved with the rest of the players,” he said. 

“We know how Murray plays. He plays that kind of full throttle, putting his body on the line and unfortunately he will pick up wee injuries. 

“He has to manage himself so he can be available every Saturday, he’s that little bit older now. 

“I remember going down to Largs one year. Murray had missed the majority of pre-season and I had to do the running with him. 

“He just flew. He’s just incredibly fit, that’s just the way he is. That is his build and his character, he’s one of those guys you can just throw straight back into the team. 

“He’s a big part of the team, he’s been here for so long. Again he is going to be one of the older ones, one of the leaders, so it is important for me that he is right mentally and he can focus on playing football.” 

Manager Davidson also hopes to welcome back striker Chris Kane, but goalkeeper Zander Clark will not return until after the international break. 

Saints suffered two sucker punch defeats to Aberdeen and Hibs last week, despite controlling large parts of both games. The Perth team were stung by a late penalty against Jack Ross’ outfit on Sunday, but they were ultimately too shy in front of goal to take anything from the match. 

 “It was one of those. It was a hard one to take,” Davidson continued. 

“I looked at the performance and sometimes defeats can overshadow the performances, but I was very pleased with the performance second half. 

“I won’t talk about the other two incidents, you have to get rid of it, you have to move on. 

“We’ve moved on we are all looking forward to Saturday.”   

St Johnstone are looking to arrange a bounce game over the international break and the club may use the friendly as an opportunity to run their eye over a couple of trialists. 

With Saints having the smallest squad in the league, Davidson is determined to get some new faces through the door. 

He added: “I’m giving them two or three days off with their families and trying to arrange a game for the Saturday for the ones who have been out and younger ones who have been on the periphery of the squad.  

“It ls a long transfer window. I am always looking but we just have to be patient. We have a two-week window now for me and my staff to have a good look at players and who could be available.  

“A lot of clubs in England are starting up again so there will be players there. Whether we get any is a different story but we will be trying.  

“I’d like to bring trialists up but we have to get the testing right. That makes it very difficult.  

“That is the hard part. You have to be organised if there are any players we’d like to have a look at next Saturday. You have to make sure the testing days are right. Results would have to be back in time.  

“It’s quite a challenge. Hopefully we can get some up but we’ll have to wait and see.”