Stuart McCall has admitted he is excited by the prospect of unleashing new signing Omar Daley upon the SPL.
The ‘Well gaffer, who also managed Daley at Bradford City, has described the Jamaican winger a potential ‘match winner’ for the Steelmen, with all the pace and incisiveness that you would expect from a dangerous winger.
The 65-times capped Daley could feature against St. Johnstone this weekend after a summer spent playing for Jamaica in the Gold Cup and, thus, keeping fitness levels high – and McCall expects an impact from his new Reggae Boyz star when he does make his Fir Park bow.
[pullquote]He gives us good pace and he has matured as a player – I’m looking forward to him exciting the crowds.[/pullquote]
“The great thing about Omar is that his fitness levels are good,” the ‘Well boss praised. “He’s been away through the summer with Jamaica and played a few games and trained hard, so he gives us another option this weekend.
“He’ll certainly be in the squad. I’m not sure whether he will start or be on the bench but I’m sure he will get some involvement.
“He gives us good pace and he has matured as a player – I’m looking forward to him exciting the crowds. When I was at Bradford he had some spells of form where I’d think he could easily play in The Championship.
“Like all wingers he can be inconsistent and infuriating – but he can be a match winner for us.”
Daley’s first task in claret and amber, should he feature, will be to help facilitate a win over St. Johnstone this weekend.
The Saints currently sit in eighth spot in the SPL but, remarkably, have yet to concede a single goal away from McDiarmid Park this season.
Naturally McCall is wary of the threat posed by the Perth side and their prodigious backline as the Steelmen to bounce back from last week’s defeat at Parkhead.
“We know St. Johnstone will defend well and be very difficult to break down,” the former Rangers and Everton midfielder. “They’ve added strikers as well now, so just because we’ve got three home games starting with St. Johnstone doesn’t mean we just need to turn up to win the games.
“But if you take the two games versus the Old Firm out of the picture we are delighted with our start. We now need to respond to last week’s defeat, kick on, and keep the momentum going.
“We look to beat everyone, especially in our home games – we have that belief – so that aim is no different this weekend.”
Shaun Hutchinson will definitely miss the visit of Derek McInnes’ side with an ankle injury, after limping off in the first half of the defeat against Celtic.
Despite an initially pessimistic prognosis, McCall hopes the big defender will be back in a month.
“We’d be delighted if he’s back after the next international break,” the 47-year old admitted. “That’s a bonus when you consider how serious it looked when it was swelled up after the match.
“He’s a big, brave lad and he’s a quick healer, so we hope it’s a case of weeks rather than months.”