James Brown is content with continuing to be Mr Versatile for St Johnstone – and will always back himself to perform out of position.
The Maltese international has played right wing-back, right centre-half, left centre-half and left wing-back so far this season.
He is ready to play wherever required at Rugby Park against Kilmarnock tomorrow afternoon as Saints chase three points to pull further away from the bottom of the standings.
“I think I could offer more to the squad if I nailed down one position and had a consistent run,” Brown admitted. “That would be when I would be able to hit the levels I know I can.
“But I can’t complain with playing. It’s nice to be there if a place needs filled. I will always back myself to do a job, even when I’m playing out of position.”
Saints could be without striker Nicky Clark tomorrow and, while versatile, Brown chuckles the forward department is a step too far.
“I think travelling support numbers would be a lot lower if they were to watch 90 minutes of me up front,” he laughed. “It wouldn’t be the best decision.
“As a kid, like everyone does, you bang in seven or eight goals a game but you slowly get put in your place and end up at right back or centre-half. I think we’ll leave striker for others.”
Saints can surge 10 points clear of second-from-bottom Kilmarnock with victory in Ayrshire. That would do their top six chase no harm at all.
“There are still teams above us we can catch but we also need to be wary of teams who are fighting – like Kilmarnock – to drag us back into it,” Brown said.
“The home pitch is a big advantage for Kilmarnock, similar to Livingston. It is a completely different game when you play on an Astroturf compared to the grass.
“You have seen the percentage of points they pick up at home and we’re under no illusions that it will be tough to get a win there.
“But with three points we can really boost our chances of top six and also pulling away from the teams below us.”
In a personal boost for Brown, he was this month called into the Malta squad for upcoming Euro qualifiers against North Macedonia and Italy.
“It is something that myself and my family are proud of,” Brown explained to the PA.
“You can never just expect a call-up because there are a lot of good technical players who are at clubs around Europe, not just in Malta. It is a good, competitive squad.
“We want to be competitive in these two games. We have a tough group with top European teams, who have world class players.
“You need to be realistic but we are trending in the right direction.”
