PETER GEARING UP FOR BUSY SPELL

The weather has led to a dearth of games at McDiarmid Park since early winter – just one home fixture since 13th November – and with no fewer than six away games played in that period it has led to Manager Derek McInnes talk about the “imbalance of fixtures”.

However, all that is set to change in the next few weeks as we embark on a run of five home matches in the space of twenty two days, with a trip to Tynecastle thrown into the mix just for good measure and one player who is relishing the prospect of some games at McDiarmid Park is goalkeeper Peter Enckelman.

“It’s an intriguing prospect to have so many home games coming up now” the Finnish keeper told the Saints Official Website after training yesterday.

“Our form has actually been good since we started to get these home games cancelled and we now have to build on that away form. It’s important to get wins on the board at McDiarmid for the fans, the players and everyone at the club.”

Peter was among the players who had to make alternative arrangements for training during the worst of the snowy weather and he was as frustrated as the fans when the games had to be cancelled.

“It’s never nice to have games put off because you know they will catch up on you eventually. We are quite fortunate that the postponements haven’t disrupted our form and at least we were able to work on our fitness.

“That said, I think our fitness has been good from the start of the season. I missed much of the build up but I know the pre-season work was quite intense and I think we are benefiting now. Our core strength is good and I think that is why we have finished recent games strongly and scored goals in the closing stages.”

Pointing out that players have to get their mental as much as their physical approach right to a busy run of games, Peter also stressed the role home fans can play.

“The away support has been great and fair play to them that they have followed us to all these games. Now we need those fans plus the ones who only see the team at McDiarmid Park to get behind the side in home games. We are on a good run of form and their backing can help us continue that.”