“I’ve been speaking to people about various players, some of them with the January window in mind, but others who could come in straight away,” he said today.

“I’ve been happy with the performances and results in the last three games, but they don’t change the fact we have a small squad and being able to add to it would be a boost.

“We are threadbare in some areas and I would like to add another striker, but it is all about the right people being available and being able to do business to get them.”

One area the manager thought was not a problem was in goal where he was happy to have Ludovic Roy, Calum Reidford and Scott Murray at his disposal.

He’s been left in a sweat, though, since on-loan Ranger Reidford strained his neck just before the victory over Gretna earlier this month.

“Calum’s still struggling and is getting treatment at Murray Park — it makes sense to get it there rather than have a boy with a stiff neck driving four hours to Dens and back each day.

“Hopefully, it will not be too long before he is back in training and, as long as we have Ludo and Scott fit, it isn’t a problem, but if something happens to either of them, it would be a real worry.”

Today, though, he stressed that strike rate would be just one small factor in his favour when he sits down to decide what the line-up for Tynecastle should be.

“For a start, at this stage of my career it is goals in the first team that count, not the reserves, and I haven’t scored one, so getting a goal yesterday isn’t a big issue,” he said.

“And whether or not I’ve played well, there are a lot of other things I have to take into account — people don’t realise there are a lot of extra pressures that come with being a player/manager.

“Tony Docherty is in charge of the reserves and, when I am playing for them, I can relax and just concentrate on my game. It is not like that in the first team and that can make it more difficult.

“When I am picking the team for the weekend, I also have to take into account the kind of week I’ve had on the managerial side and how I am feeling — that’s what I’ll do for Sunday.”

Definite pluses from yesterday’s Easter Road trip were the performance of new boy Grant Smith and the 90 minutes Lee Mair and Steven Robb completed.

“Grant needs a game or two to get his fitness level right up to scratch, because he tired in the second half. But he showed some nice touches and did well,” added Craig.

“It was very good to see Lee Mair come through the whole game and Steven Robb will have benefited as well — he did well against Motherwell last Saturday, but it was obvious he hadn’t started for a while.

“Overall, it was another good performance by the boys. We were very strong first half and, although I thought Hibs were better than us for most of the second, we finished strongly and would have had a second if David Robertson hadn’t missed a penalty — he did well otherwise.”

Fans planning to head for the capital on Sunday can get tickets from the Dundee United Direct shop at Tannadice.

Striker Steven Milne is a doubt for Saturday’s away game against Dundee due to a knee injury, but Saints’ player/boss Owen Coyle is confident others can fill the void if needed.

He said, “We will not be feeling sorry for ourselves as, regardless of who goes out to play on Saturday, they’ll be giving everything for St Johnstone.

“I’m pleased with our form so far and we’ve just got to keep doing what we’ve been doing.

“There is room for improvement, though.”