CLUB CAPTAIN URGES HIS TEAM TO TITLE SUCCESS

With Partick Thistle and Dunfermline Athletic visiting Perth tomorrow and Tuesday respectively, Saints are on the eve of four days which will go a long way to shaping how our season will pan out.

The weekend visit from the Firhill club is being billed as Saints’ biggest game for years and while those who were at the heart-breaking last game scenario at Hamilton two years ago would dispute that, there is no doubt that this weekend’s fixture carries with it the veritable ‘six pointer’ label.

A home victory tomorrow will see a six point gap open up between Saints and second-placed Thistle with the game in hand against the Pars on Tuesday bringing the opportunity to increase that to nine but a win for the Glasgow side – who have a mightily impressive record on the road – would bring the teams level at the top of the league. With Dundee having slipped up again on Tuesday, it looks like a two-horse race although First Division title races in the past have thrown up stranger events than the Dens Park side still having a say in things.

The manager is again calling for Perth fans to turn out and back their players for the full 90 minutes – he’s not anticipating that Thistle will come to Perth with a gung-ho approach – as patience may well be the name of the game.

Other than the long-term absentees, two players are out of contention for the game – midfielder Chris Millar is suspended for one match and Peter MacDonald is sidelined with a pulled hamstring. New loan left-back Steven Kinniburgh is added to the squad.

One player who won’t be involved but will still be kicking every ball from the sidelines is club captain Kevin James (pictured). It’s been another disappointing season for the giant central defender with injury again robbing him of long stretches of match action but he is fit now and has recently returned from a one month loan spell with Ayr United and he is ready to step into the side if required. Kevin spoke to the Saints Official Website this morning: