STEVEN DELIGHTED TO EXTEND PERTH STAY

Steven MacLean has spoken of his delight at securing a long-term deal to stay with St Johnstone.

The 30 year old striker had a deal through to January 2013 but he put pen to paper this morning on an extension which takes in the remainder of this season and all of 2013/2014.

Steven told the Saints Official Website: “The club spoke to me about a longer deal before I dislocated my elbow against Dundee and it put things on hold for a while. I was thinking the worst and feared I would be out for months. It was a worry because I wasn’t sure what way the club would look at it.

“It was the most painful injury of my career but thankfully it wasn’t as bad as a knee or ankle problem because I was wearing a protective support and doing non-contact training within two weeks of the injury, so my fitness levels didn’t drop.”

Steven had left his wife and family in Plymouth as he attempted to secure a longer-term deal in Scotland and with that done he can look forward to bringing them north of the border again.

“When I came here at the start of September it was the first time in my career that I was in a position where I had to prove myself. If that meant taking a short term deal initially then I thought it would be worth it.

“Football clubs are reluctant to take a gamble on players these days, which you can understand and it has helped that the team has been on a good run and it has been easy to settle in with the boys here.

“I’m enjoying my football again.”