St Johnstone returning to Northern Ireland for pre-season

St Johnstone will once again spend part of their pre-season preparations in Northern Ireland.

The club have regularly been based in the province before embarking on their league and cup games and they are heading back there again.

Manager Tommy Wright will oversee a six-day stay with Saints meeting Glentoran in Belfast on July 9 (3pm).

Glentoran are managed by former Saints defender and ex-Brechin City and Dundee boss Alan Kernaghan.

Wright said of the trip: “We were in Belfast last summer and it was a great base.

“We will use the same hotel and training facilities both of which we know and like.

“There’s not a great deal of travelling involved.

“We did consider going further afield.

“However, I prefer to train in a climate we’re used to and I’m delighted we are going back to Northern Ireland.”

Saints have played a number of Northern Irish sides in their pre-season trips to the Emerald Isle and, last season, they loaned central defender Gareth Rodger to Ballymena United. Rodger is now at Forfar Athletic.

Meanwhile, the book to celebrate St Johnstone’s historic Scottish Cup triumph has almost sold out, raising valuable funds for the club’s youth development.

Our Day in May, chronicling the inside story on how St Johnstone won a major national trophy for the first time in their 130-year history, was published on May 17, 2015, marking exactly a year since Tommy Wright’s side entered the history books thanks to a 2-0 win over Dundee United.