St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson hailed the impact of wing-back Drey Wright after his piledriver earned his side a 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.
Wright fizzed a low strike across Killie goalkeeper Sam Walker from 25 yards to cancel out an opener from Joe Wright.
The visitors toiled in a disappointing first half but improved after the break.
Davidson believes Wright is Saints’ player of the season after his sixth goal of the campaign.
He said: “I thought it was a wonder strike by Drey Wright. I thought Zak (Rudden) could have done better with it earlier when we had a three-v-two counter-attack but Drey’s finished it with a fantastic strike so we’ll take the point and we’ll move on.
“I think he’s been our stand-out player this season. He gives me a lot of energy down the right-hand side. He’s got a goal threat. An assist threat.
“He’s been fantastic and he’s got that in his locker. He was one you could say in the second half anyway that he got pass marks.”
However, there was a blow for St Johnstone as Davidson revealed after the match that striker Nicky Clark is likely to miss the remainder of the cinch Premiership campaign.
He admitted: “Unfortunately I think we’ve lost Nicky Clark for the season. I think he’s got a high ankle sprain that requires an operation. A bit of a blow.
“He’s going to see a specialist this week and hopefully it might be good news but it doesn’t look great.”
Kilmarnock boss Derek McInnes chose young central midfielder David Watson to single out for praise.
The 18-year-old caught the eye in his first ever league start, showing composure in his passing and driving the hosts forward with his running.
McInnes said: “A great boy. I liked him as soon as we came in. A couple of teams were asking about him going on loan but I wanted to keep him in with us.
“We got him training right away with the first team so he trains with the first team every day and gets exposed to that.
“He makes tackles, contact, passes, he’s good in the air, he’s got everything. He reminds me a wee bit of Graeme Shinnie. He plays how he trains, he does everything right.
“He comes from a lovely family – a local boy and he plays with his heart on his sleeve and I felt the supporters needed to see that.
“Sometimes with the tension that we’ve spoken about, a younger one just plays the game and I thought he did that. He should be really pleased with his performance. He’s one that we’re not surprised about.
“He’s had a wee bit of a dip over the Christmas and January period but captains the reserves and captains the 18s and I’ve no doubt he’ll probably be a captain in our team going forward.”
