Callum Davidson is relishing the moment he finally gets to see St Johnstone fans inside McDiarmid Park tonight.
Supporters will return to the Perth stadium for the first time in 16 months when Saints take on Preston North End in a friendly.
The COVID-19 pandemic meant that Davidson’s stunning cup double-winning campaign in the hotseat took place in empty stadiums.
But now 1000 season ticket holders are set to be perched in the stands – and the Saints manager could not be happier for them.
“This will be the first game in front of fans since I took on the job so I’m really looking forward to it,” he told the PA.
“It’s also against my old club, where I spent seven years, and I’ll be seeing some familiar faces.
“I know there was strong demand for the 1000 tickets we were allowed for the Preston match.
“Hopefully we will get the opportunity to get even more in for the game with Fleetwood next weekend.
“For me, it would be great if we can get things opened up for the European games.
“It would be huge to get all the season-ticket holders and others in for those big matches.”
Davidson was pleased with how his players performed in a behind-closed-doors friendly win against Stenhousemuir on Saturday.
Saints were comfortable 6-1 winners with Stevie May scoring a hat-trick and Callum Hendry netting a double.
There was some dubiety over the other, with the goals panel set to decide whether Murray Davidson or Sam Denham got the honour.
“Preston will be a different test for us,” said Davidson, who was impressed with the performance of youngster Jordan Northcott.
“Over the next four games I want to make sure everyone gets two lots of 90 minutes under their belts.
“We want to put in a good performance but the most important thing at this stage is getting game time into the players.”
Davidson continues to hope that he can hold on to key stars as European football looms at the beginning of next month.
English League One club Rotherham previously had a £200,000 bid for Scottish Cup and League Cup goal hero Shaun Rooney turned down.
“There’s no change in Shaun’s situation,” confirmed Davidson.
“I have seen reports that details of Rotherham’s bid was leaked from up here but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“The last thing I want is to lose Shaun. This is a player who scored the winners in two cup finals for us last season. He is a big, strong, powerful athlete. His finish to the season was very impressive and we want him to build on that.
“I knew we would have interest in our players after the success we had in winning the cups and making the top six. But it is down to us as a club to decide what is acceptable in terms of any bids.
“I also have to think about the challenge presented by Europe. The lads are excited and looking forward to giving it a real go.
“The challenge is to try and be the first St Johnstone team to reach the group stages of a competition.
“If we do get a fair bid in the current market for any of the players then we will have to think seriously about it.
“While there are some clubs with transfer embargoes down south there is still money going around.
“But as a manager I would love to keep this squad together if at all possible. There has been a lot of speculation over the last few weeks but I just try to be honest with the players when I talk to them.”
