Butcher joins on-loan

The Club is delighted to announce the signing of 22-year-old AFC Bournemouth midfielder Matt Butcher on-loan until the end of the season.

Matt has had previous loan spells south of the border in non-league and with Yeovil Town in League Two.

The central midfielder man will be in the Manager's squad for tomorrow's Ladbrokes Premiership clash with Hearts.

Speaking to the Club's official website shortly after agreeing the deal, Matt said he's excited about the opportunity to play first-team football in Scotland.

"It's great to be here and I think this is a brilliant opportunity for me," he said.

"Everything happened quite late but I've managed to get up here before the weekend and now I'm just excited to get going.

"I'm really looking forward to the challenge. I've spoken to a couple of the lads from down south who have played up here and they said it'll be a great experience for me and that they really enjoyed it. Hopefully I can come here and make the most of it.

"I watched the game against Celtic on Wednesday night and I've seen a few other matches this season but I'm raring to go and want to be involved as soon as possible."

When asked about what the fans can expect to see from him, Matt added: "I will hopefully add lots of energy to the midfield and I like getting up and down the pitch.

"I'm always looking to get on the ball and to make things happen. There's good competition for places here and that's healthy.

"The Manager said to when I first came up that this is a great club and that it's a fantastic opportunity for me to play against some really good teams in the league.

"I'm looking forward to the challenge of trying to get up the league and push for a top six place."

Speaking about his latest signing, the Manager said: "It's great to have Matt here and I'm looking forward to seeing him in a St. Johnstone shirt.

"At the start of the window we knew what we were looking for and a central midfielder probably wasn't what we were in the market for.

"The injury to Murray changed that because we have a lot of games coming up in a short period and Matt's a good fit.

"He's six-foot-two, can play in the deeper role or box-to-box, he's left footed and he's good physically. He comes to us fresh and ready to get his career kickstarted.

"I'm extremely happy to have him here and sure he'll do really well for the Club."