He admits there was a bit of shock to see Cammy Ballantyne’s name appear on the St Johnstone team-sheet as the fight for Premiership safety reached tipping point.
But former Montrose team-mate Andrew Steeves was certainly not surprised to hear that the midfielder had repaid the trust by producing one of the best performances on the park.
Ballantyne was brought in from the cold in a crunch clash against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park last month.
It was a first ever top-flight appearance for the 23-year-old, who had not played competitive football since January after returning from a fourth Links Park loan.
Saints went on to win the game 1-0 and secure their 15th consecutive season in the Premiership.
“I’ll admit I was shocked when I saw he was starting against Kilmarnock the other week,” said Steeves, a former Saints youth player who hails from Scone.
“It shows that Macca (Steven MacLean) has belief in him. You don’t throw a young player into arguably the most important game of the season, against a team with a great home record and who are tough to play against, if you don’t.
“There was a bench with senior players missing out and, in months gone by, Bally had not even been stripped.
“But I was absolutely delighted for him – and then to hear that he did really well too.”
Steeves admits there had also been a touch of earlier shock when Ballantyne continued to return on loan to Montrose. He was, of course, more than happy to have him.
“He came back to Montrose the last time off the back of the season where we lost in the last second against Airdrie in the playoff,” Steeves recalls.
“He’d had a great second half of the season. We had seen boys like Lyall Cameron leave us and then go straight in at a higher level. We thought Bally would do the same. So to get him again was a shock to us.
“When he was at Montrose, we’d played against Kilmarnock in the last 16 of the Scottish Cup and against the likes of Dundee. There was no doubt he could play at that level.”
Ballantyne, Steeves believes, holds the required traits on and off the field of play to be a success in Perth.
“He is confident,” Steeves said. “He believes in himself.
“When he came to Montrose the second, third and fourth time, he had the belief that he could be playing at Saints.
“Bally has an opinion too, which is great. Sometimes young players can be too chilled out and just accept that things aren’t going their way.
“But he will back himself and, to go along with that, he is just a good guy. A proper good football person.
“He is a good football player, is athletic enough, covers ground well, passes forward and is good for a goal every now and again.”
After playing the final three games of the season, Ballantyne is now well-placed to attack the summer and force his way into MacLean’s 2023/24 plans.
Steeves told the PA: “It’s now just a case of can you be the best player on the pitch seven or eight times a year.
“He will now feel really part of it and not just in training Monday to Friday. He’ll feel he has contributed to the team staying up. He’ll feel more part of that changing room than ever before.
“Sometimes if you are on the periphery and not contributing to the success, you maybe don’t feel like you’ve earned your place. As a young player there is nothing worse than floating around the edges.
“It was great he followed it up by playing the last two games of the season too.”
