St Johnstone midfielder David Wotherspoon called up by Canada for World Cup

St Johnstone David Wotherspoon arrives at Edinburgh Airport ahead of the Canada squad announcement.

The 32-year-old had been anxiously waiting for manager John Herdman to finalise his squad and the ex-Hibs man was picked despite only recently recovering from a long-term injury. However, he jetted off to Qatar today and will meet up with his international team-mates on Monday.

Wotherspoon helped Saints earn a point in their final cinch Premiership match before the break after drawing 1-1 with Motherwell at McDiarmid Park.

Motherwell began confidently on a slick McDiarmid Park pitch but, despite zipping passes around, failed to trouble the St Johnstone defence beyond a deflected Kevin Van Veen shot.

The home side gradually grew into the game and carved out a well-worked opener 25 minutes in.

Graham Carey found Adam Montgomery with a switch of play and the wing-back in turn fed David Wotherspoon in the box. When the midfielder bought space for a shot, Liam Kelly’s parry was knocked into the unguarded net by the lurking Wright.

Stevie May lobbed a slack Callum Slattery header over and Nicky Clark nodded wide from a corner as Saints sought a second.

But it was Motherwell who struck next with the equaliser seconds before the break. Sean Goss won a free-kick on the left edge of the box and Spittal’s dead-ball effort took a wicked deflection off the wall to deceive Remi Matthews.

Both sides sought a second after the interval but Spittal volleyed harmlessly wide and a Melker Hallberg shot took two deflections on its way past for Saints.

The Perth outfit stretched their unbeaten run to five games with the draw and are just four points away from Aberdeen in third.

Manager Callum Davidson said: “It was a difficult game and a difficult surface but I think both teams went out trying to win the game, so we’ll take a point and move on.”