St Johnstone take heart from Nadir Ciftci debut as Liam Craig to Falkirk blackballed

Nadir Ciftci showed some nice touches on his St Johnstone debut.

Buoyed by the arrival of Nadir Ciftci, there was greater impetus to their showing but their trip to the capital still ended in defeat.

But Davidson, who will turn his attention to the defence of the Scottish Cup this weekend, hopes there will be more signings arriving to bolster their Premiership survival bid.

“Hopefully we can add a few more faces before the end of the window,” he said. “We’re working hard and it’s important that we do it.

St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson makes orders from the touchline.

“You can see the lift that Nadir and the other lads have given the squad. We need to keep fighting.”

He singled former Celtic and Dundee United striker Ciftci, who was particularly impressive in the first half but started to run out of steam as Hearts lifted their performance in the second half.

“Nadir was excellent tonight,” Davidson continued. “He showed that little spark and his movement was excellent.

“I thought Dan [Cleary] did well as well. It was his first game in six to eight weeks.”

Liam Craig has been linked with a move to Falkirk, with the League One credited with interest in the midfielder. His St Johnstone boss does not want to see him leave, though, with so many key fixtures looming.

“At the moment we’re in no position to let players go,” Davidson added. “We’re all about keeping players.

“All the games are huge. It doesn’t matter what team we’re playing.

“The cup game we’ve got next is huge. It’s really important we try and do the right things and then we can worry about the Dundee game.”

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