St Johnstone outbid Hibs in late swoop for Cillian Sheridan

The former Celtic striker had been keen to return to Scottish football after failing to settle in Bulgaria, where he played under three different managers following his lucrative move to CSKA Sofia. Hibs appeared favourites to secure the services of the Republic of Ireland cap after he played as a trialist, and scored, in their pre-season friendly win over East Fife a fortnight ago.

Easter Road manager Colin Calderwood was keen to add the 22-year-old to his striking options, with Akpo Sodje's injury leaving him with just Garry O'Connor up front ahead of Sunday's SPL opener against Celtic. Sheridan was also known to be keen to join the capital club.However, the offer made by chairman Rod Petrie fell short of the figure sought by the Bulgarians, who are willing to take a substantial hit on Sheridan's 10,000 weekly wage.

With St Johnstone counterpart Geoff Brown stepping in to stump up the cash wanted, the Perth club surprisingly pipped their SPL rivals to the Irishman's signature.

Sheridan, who phoned Calderwood on Wednesday night to inform him of Sofia's decision, insists he is happy to be returning to the SPL, where he has had previous loan stints at St Johnstone and Motherwell.

And, speaking yesterday before flying back to Scotland from Bulgaria, he was adamant the final decision on his destination had come down to who was willing to meet Sofia's modest demands.

He said: "It was out of my hands in terms of having to choose where to go. St Johnstone made an offer that Sofia were happy with and Hibs' offer was a bit less. Sofia went with the better offer and my hands were pretty much tied.

"I enjoyed my week at Hibs and I was looking forward to working something out there but then I was told that St Johnstone had put in a bid for a loan that was better.

"I spoke to the manager at Hibs on Wednesday night to tell him what was happening. I enjoyed going to Hibs in the hope of something happening there but at the end of the day it didn't work out.

"I've been at St Johnstone before. The manager there knows me and knows what I'm like and I know what the club is like. I know the SPL and the people there will know me as well. I won't be new to the league and I'm looking forward to it starting.

"It was a bit of a risk going out to Bulgaria, but it was a good experience and good to try something else.

"I don't regret it but I want to try and get back playing regularly, and hopefully I can do that with St Johnstone."

Questions will now be raised by the Hibs support, who will wonder how Saints could financially out-muscle the Easter Road outfit for a player their manager had insisted he wanted to sign. The club issued a statement yesterday before Sheridan's move to St Johnstone was made public, claiming they had "other preferred options", even though it was as recently as Tuesday night after their friendly match against Falkirk that Calderwood had reiterated his desire to add the bustling forward to his squad at Easter Road.

On the club's official website, Calderwood said: "I want to focus on players who want to be at Hibernian and that can bring more potency to our attack.

"I have other preferred options for strikers, and hope to conclude a deal over the next few days.

"We know Cillian has other options and wish him all the best at whatever club he chooses to join."

Calderwood is also pursuing a possible move for trialist Junior Agogo, the Ghana internationalist who has been on trial at the club in recent days.

St Johnstone, who have dropped their interest in trialist Danijel Subotic, are now bidding to secure international clearance to allow Sheridan to feature in tomorrow's meeting with Aberdeen.

Sheridan added: "I've not really had a holiday this summer, so I haven't really had a pre-season as such either because I've never had a break. I feel fine and ready to play."