Youth academy winger Dougal McAdam has been enjoying his time at the club since signing his first professional contract in the summer.
The 16-year-old from Aberfeldy grew up playing his football for local youth side Breadalbane before making the switch to Saints aged 10.
He has been turning out for both the under-17s and under-19s in the opening stages of the new season – and is looking forward to what lies ahead.
Dougal said: “It has been really good since I signed my first pro contract. I’ve enjoyed it and was excited to get into the first few games of the season.
“I know how high the standards need to be. When you see how the first team operate, it makes you want to be up there and at their level.
“It’s good that I’m getting a lot of football with both the under-17 and under-19s. We’re hopefully going to have a strong season.”
Explaining his first steps in football, Dougal added: “I played most of my youth football with Breadalbane in Aberfeldy. My dad was a coach and my mum worked for the club too.
“I think I must’ve started with Breadalbane about the age of five until I started getting involved with Saints. I was playing with both for a while before signing at Saints when I was 10.
“And I’ve been with the club ever since. I’m a Saints fan, I used to watch them all of the time when I was growing up and now I just want to play for them.”
The under-19s are back in league action on Tuesday afternoon when they travel to face Bonnyrigg Rose at Poltonhall Recreation Ground. Kick-off is scheduled for 2.30pm.
The young Saints started the campaign with a 3-3 draw against Ayr United last week.
Dougal added: “We have quite a young team and we know that there will be no easy games in the league. We’ll always just be trying to do our best to get a result.
“If we get a good start, that can set us up nicely for the rest of the game. In the last couple of games we’ve started well but did not manage to hold out, so we’ll be focused on that.”
