St Johnstone produced a professional display on a Cliftonhill pitch that looked as if it was made to set up a Scottish Cup upset as they eased past League One Albion Rovers thanks to a fine performance by striker Chris Kane, who helped himself to a hat-trick and an assist for Kyle McClean’s first Saints strike at Cliftonhill.
Tommy Wright, the St Johnstone manager, later revealed that he is close to bolstering his squad. “We will get players in,” he said. “We’ve probably got three agreed in principle and I would imagine we will have at least two of them done by teatime [today].
“We are after George Williams at Fulham; there’s always been an interest in Scott Wright at Aberdeen and we are also looking at a midfielder who has been playing abroad: that one might prove difficult but hopefully not. I would like three in, and maybe a fourth. I would like Rory McKenzie in but Kilmarnock seem to want him to stay.
“I enjoyed it tonight, mainly because the players went out and did a job and made it a comfortable night for us. When you get the start we did after three minutes it settles everything down. Overall I am pleased because to come here on a difficult pitch and win 4-0 the attitude had to be right - and it was right from the first whistle tonight.”
The fourth-round tie had been postponed twice and a Monday night in deepest Lanarkshire surely could not have held too much appeal for the Perth side, but their professionalism ensured that they got the job done with the minimum of fuss. Their reward will be a trip to Tynecastle to face resurgent Hearts in the next round.
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Wright made his promised wholescale changes, retaining just three players from their feeble loss to Partick Thistle on Saturday. Only Liam Craig, Denny Johnstone and Joe Shaughnessy were spared the axe. It took them just three minutes to make their mark with the simplest of goals. Shaughnessy’s long throw was deflected into the path of Kane, who lashed a volley past Kieran Wright, the Rovers keeper, into the top corner.
The home side offered little going forward before their young striker Connor Shields, who has been linked with a move to Premier League Watford, tested the visiting goalkeeper Alan Mannus with a decent long-range effort that skidded off the surface and could have been problematic on the surface.
João Victoria achieved the near- impossible by waltzing over the gluepot pitch and advancing into the box and would surely have levelled matters but for an excellent sliding block from Shaughnessy. St Johnstone only really threatened again just before the interval when Kane thrashed a knockdown from Blair Alston over the bar.
The second half was a different story. Just seven minutes after the break Kane collected the ball on the right and picked out the run into the box of the 19-year-old midfielder McClean, who poked home to the delight of the 900 away fans. It was 3-0 in the 57th minute when Kane, unmarked in the box, nodded a pointblank header past Wright from a fine cross from Liam Craig. He completed his hat-trick when he latched on a poor headed back pass by the tiring Michael McMullan and volleyed home through Wright’s legs.