LANDMARK APPEARANCE LOOMING FOR LIAM

Should Liam Craig appear for St Johnstone against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park tomorrow it will be his 200th appearance for the Saints.

When Derek McInnes became Manager of Saints in November 2007, following Owen Coyle’s moved to Burnley, Liam was one of Derek’s first signings. Initially he joined from Falkirk on a one month loan basis but was quickly offered a contract until the end of the 2007/08 Season and he joined the club on a tribunal-fixed £25,000 fee.

Since then he has become a fixture in the first team being part of the promotion winning squad in 2009 and helping to consolidate the team’s Premier League position.

Liam says of the landmark: “To average around 40 games a season is good going and I’ve been lucky that I have avoided major injury so far. Mind you, if I hadn’t been suspended so often I might have reached the 200 mark about 25 games ago!”

“Derek McInnes and Tony Docherty have to take an awful lot of credit – they restored my confidence and convinced me they could take the club places and they were good to their word.”

St Johnstone first entered the Scottish League in 1911 and since then only 39 players have achieved over 200 appearances so Liam will join a prestigious club. Of the current squad only Steven Anderson has more with 213 starts plus 26 subs and 5 goals.

With 179 starts and 20 appearances from the bench so far, Liam has a bit to go to reach Alan Main’s record of 361 appearances but he will join such famous names as John O’Neil (224) Paul Sheerin (231) Alex Rennie (254) and Willie Coburn (324) in the “200 club”.

His record of 36 goals including 12 penalties is impressive for a player who has played mainly in midfield but has also filled the left full back position on numerous occasions. He was top scorer in 2008/09 and joint top scorer with Kenny Deuchar in 2009/10.

Perhaps his best and most valuable goal was at East End Park in 2008 when Saints won 2 – 1 against title rivals Dunfermline Athletic.

He is very much a key player in Steve Lomas current squad and in this time of players moving frequently he is to be congratulated on both his achievement and his club loyalty.