BY KYLE GUNN
Alex Iacovitti admits he couldn’t have asked for a better St Mirren debut than to find the back of the net in the club’s first European win since 1987.
Now he is determined to make his mark all over again after fighting back to fitness following a serious hamstring injury.
The 27-year-old central defender scored the final goal in Saints’ 4-1 victory over Icelandic side FC Valur in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League at a packed-out SMiSA Stadium.
Iacovitti, who joined in the summer from Sky Bet League Two side Port Vale but has been crocked since September, reflected on his Euro experience which also included netting against Eliteserien cracks SK Brann in Norway.
He told the Paisley Daily Express: “Overall, I was disappointed to go out but the first [goal] was in the 4-1 win. It was on my debut so I settled quite quickly.
“I was still catching up with minutes and the lads were a bit ahead of me. The time scale is a bit different when you come back from pre-season in England.
“So, that was brilliant to get off the mark with that first goal and obviously against Brann when I scored that header. It was an unbelievable moment. I loved every minute of it. It’s just disappointing that we couldn’t hold out at 1-1 or even won the game.”
Saints haven’t had their troubles to seek defensively and Iacovitti is in contention for a top-team return at St Johnstone tomorrow with Alex Gogic suspended and Charles Dunne also on the recovery trail following a hamstring problem.
Paisley chief Stephen Robinson has led the club to successive top-six finishes in the Premiership and the aim is to make it a hat-trick.
“That’s the target,” Iacovitti added. “It would be brilliant if we could get into Europe again.
“I’ve got a taste for it now so I feel we’re well equipped and ready. We are just taking every game as it comes and not looking too far ahead. Every game is massive. We will just keep working away and see where it takes us.”
Meanwhile, Mark O’Hara is hoping for a belated birthday present in Perth tomorrow, writes Colin Paterson.
The St Mirren skipper turned 29 yesterday but the celebrations will be on hold ahead until after the McDiarmid Park Premiership showdown with St Johnstone.
Back-to-back defeats to Dundee United and Motherwell have put the brakes on the Buddies’ top-six push. However, a 3-1 win over St Johnstone in October marked the beginning of a four-game unbeaten run for Stephen Robinson’s men.
And Barrhead boy O’Hara is looking for history to repeat itself even if Perth hasn’t always been a happy hunting ground for those in black and white.
“Pushing for the top six is always the goal and it’s going to be a tough game against St Johnstone,” he said.
“They are a good footballing side and it’s a place where we’ve not had much success in the last few years so we will be looking to put that right. I was impressed with how they played football [in October] and there was some good stuff.
“I think it could suit us facing a team who want to play football and we can press and get after them. That was our first win after the run that we had been on so hopefully this will be the catalyst again.”
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