CALLUM DAVIDSON has revealed that St Johnstone have been forced to curtail training early this week due to the high intensity of his players.
The McDiarmid Park outfit are preparing for their Hampden showdown with Hibs on Saturday with a spot in the Betfred Cup final on the line.
Davidson has confirmed that he has a full squad to pick from for the semi-final clash and he admits he will have a selection headache on his hands prior to the weekend’s match.
“I have said it before. I probably have 18 starters in my squad,” he told Herald and Times Sport.
“I have 18 players who are desperate to play. Some are unhappy when they don’t play that is just natural.
“Everybody’s back and available, which is great. They’re all ready to go and going by the way they’ve trained this week, they’re all desperate to play.
“We’ve had to curtail training a bit because it’s been such high intensity. They’ve been having a right go. I’m delighted with that.
“I just need to make sure I pick the right team, one I think will win the game, and hopefully once they get the jersey they can go and prove themselves and that is enough motivation for them.”
The Perth manager has also revealed that he could add to his squad ahead of Saturday. The former Scotland international was tight lipped on any names of targets but he did hint that two deals could be completed.
He continued: “We’re still working on it. We’ll see if we can get something done by the weekend, if not by the start of next week. Hopefully we’ll get someone in. I think it’s important for the remainder of the season.”
Asked if they could be included in Saturday’s squad, Davidson added: “It depends which one I get. There are two or three options. Hopefully we can get a couple in. If one is fit and ready to go, he’ll be put straight in.”
Davidson was assistant manager to Tommy Wright when Saints lifted the Scottish Cup in 2014 and that famous day in May is one that he will never forget.
The Perth boss also has players like David Wotherspoon and Michael O’Halloran who were part of the cup winning team and he feels their experience could be vital on Saturday.
He explained: “We’ve still got a couple here. They’ll be telling the other players what it was like, how good it was.
“But semi-finals are tough occasions. You know that the final is much bigger and that’s the game you really want to be part of.
“I just want to make sure they perform to their best level. Sometimes that will be good enough, sometimes it won’t. I don’t want them to think too much about it. We can’t win the league so the cups are important.
“We’ve not had it easy – we’ve played Dundee United, Motherwell and Dunfermline. But we’ve given ourselves a great chance.”
Davidson also expects a message from his old colleague and pal Tommy Wright ahead of the weekend.
He added: “I’m sure we’ll get a good luck message from Tommy. I’m sure he’ll be watching. A lot of the players here were his and he’ll be watching closely.”
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