And player-boss Owen Coyle is suffering from a broken toe.

Saints will be forced into two changes anyway for Saturday’s away game against Dundee.

Simon Mensing starts a two-game ban and Jason Scotland is on World Cup duty with Trinidad & Tobago.

Meanwhile, central defender Kevin Rutkiewicz has praised the influence of his manager and the rest of the Saints defence.

Speaking in the wake of his team’s 1-0 home win over Airdrie United, Kevin commented, “It looked as if I was out the door in the summer.

“Owen brought in his own centre-halves in Kevin James and Mark Campbell.

“At the beginning of last season, the then Saints manager John Connolly brought me in and he wanted to play me from the start, so I could understand the way Owen was thinking.

“But I managed to force my way into the first team and Owen has showed faith in me by continuing to play me.

“I felt at the start of the season as though my future lay elsewhere, but St Johnstone is not a club I want to leave at the moment.

“The club is on the up and people must remember the team Owen has assembled has not been together for long.

“Owen has encouraged me to express myself and I’m definitely enjoying life at McDiarmid Park. And the lads round about me are giving me confidence, too. Kevin James is a good influence and Simon Mensing is also a good guy to have with you at the back.”