Source: Team_Talk
McInnes pleased by trio's return
Derek McInnes is glad to be able to give some of his long-term injury victims a chance to play their part in St Johnstone's memorable season.[LNB] Saints have defied the doom-mongers in some style by comfortably surviving in the SPL seven years after their previous top-flight campaign.[LNB]Securing their status before the split has also afforded manager McInnes the luxury of giving much-needed game time to the likes of captain Kevin Rutkiewicz and strikers Andy Jackson and Collin Samuel.[LNB]All three have been sidelined through injury during the campaign, with Rutkiewicz and Jackson plagued by problems.[LNB]Saturday's 1-1 draw at home to Aberdeen saw Rutkiewicz make his first appearance for almost five months, Samuel handed his first start for the same length of time, and Jackson run out at McDiarmid Park for the first time in more than a year.[LNB]McInnes was particularly delighted to see defender Rutkiewicz come through 90 minutes, saying: "I think he would have enjoyed going out there and playing.[LNB]"He's had a really frustrating time, really hard luck with injuries, and he was anxious - like everybody - to play a part this season.[LNB]"We've had a nucleus of nine or 10 players who have played the majority of games.[LNB]"We've carried far too many injuries this season and him - Samuel getting back on the pitch as well - and the likes of Jackson, far too many have had long-term injuries.[LNB]"There's been a lot of frustration out there.[LNB]"We took a gamble with one or two who haven't had a lot of football in recent weeks but I think they're keen enough to play their part and get involved again."[LNB]Jackson came off the bench yesterday to help rescue a point for Saints, although he was not credited with the 88th-minute equaliser that took a decisive deflection off Aberdeen goalkeeper Stuart Nelson.[LNB]Rutkiewicz, meanwhile, started in place of the suspended Michael Duberry, who McInnes admitted will leave the club at the end of the season.[LNB]The former Chelsea defender joined Saints on a short-term contract in February but his family have remained in London, where he will return in the summer.[LNB]However, McInnes has no intention of losing Duberry's former Stamford Bridge team-mate Jody Morris, insisting it would take "a really fantastic offer" to prise the midfielder away.[LNB]Aberdeen boss Mark McGhee has all but given up trying to secure Steven MacLean on a permanent deal, admitting the club and the player were miles apart in terms of wages.[LNB]But on-loan Plymouth Argyle striker MacLean, who opened the scoring on Saturday, insists "there is always a chance" of an agreement being reached.[LNB]He added: "It's a great club, Aberdeen, and I've seen since I came up here that it's a club that want to be in the top three in the league."[LNB]The 27-year-old looked set to score the winner for the Dons for the second straight match until Jackson and Nelson's late intervention.[LNB]The draw was enough to mathematically confirm the visitors' SPL status but MacLean was nevertheless "devastated" with the outcome.[LNB]"First half, we battered St Johnstone," he said.[LNB]"We can take the positives from the game - we should've won."[LNB]MacLean's 16th-minute opener was a typical poacher's goal, the former Rangers forward standing on the goalline and flicking Darren Mackie's shot into the net.[LNB]"I'd rather score them than the screamers from 20 yards because it's a proper striker's goal and that's where you should be," MacLean said.[LNB]"I'll take off the shins or backside any day of the week."
