Andre Raymond’s tenacious displays tearing up the left flank for St Johnstone have made him an instant hit with the Perth support.
Deliveries like the pinpoint cross for Makenzie Kirk’s winner against Kilmarnock mean Saints’ strikers are also big fans of their Trinidadian team-mate’s attacking threat.
As befits a player picked up from the Portuguese third tier, however, there are rough edges to Raymond.
Simo Valakari has been quick to attempt to smooth them out since assessing every player’s plus points and areas for improvement.
The manager has impressed upon Raymond the requirement to sharpen up his concentration levels in order to take his Saints game to a higher plane.
Valakari said: “I love Andre, he’s such a natural footballer. You saw the class in the quality of the cross for our goal against Kilmarnock.
“We’re still working with him so that he stays with the match for every moment.
“He needs to focus all the time. Then he can play better to all his strengths.
“He’s a young boy. Sometimes he gets so excited, he’s watching the game – and maybe a striker is behind him.
“He’s a real modern full-back. He can see that opponents might be targeting him with high balls, diagonal balls behind him.
“But he’s a very physical guy who can jump, he can time his headers and he’s not bad in the air.”
Raymond was posted missing with a hamstring injury last month, with new signing Barry Douglas taking the starting spot for three matches.
Douglas is now nursing a hamstring problem of his own after a knock in Saints’ defeat at Motherwell.
Raymond is set to make his 18th appearance for the club in Saturday’s Premiership trip to Aberdeen.
Valakari added: “Andre can play out and out full-back who stays on the line or, if need be, can be inverted and play almost as a midfielder.
“He gives us flexibility to do different things in the build-up phase and, as we’ve seen, he has this final pass.
“He’s got a big heart, too, you can see how much he enjoys his football.
“In some moments, he needs to enjoy it even more. When I see that he is sad or something is not right, he’s not the Andre that we know.
“Happiness comes through hard work and playing for the team, then he can enjoy his football.”
SOURCE: The Courier