TOMMY Wright expects to hold on to Matty Kennedy until the end of the season.

The St Johnstone winger has signed a pre-contract deal with Aberdeen, but the Perth club have rebuffed two bids to take the winger to Pittodrie this month.

Northern Ireland squad man Kennedy missed out on the Saints’ 3-0 Scottish Cup win over Morton at the weekend, so he hasn’t been cup-tied.

But Wright dismissed speculation that his absence had anything to do with the interest.

“Matty took a kick on his ankle in training last week and didn’t recover in time to play,” explained Wright.

“The conspiracy theorists will think he was left out because it was the cup but they don’t know Matty. He’s genuine and wants to play in every game.

“The first thing he said when he came in this morning was about getting Ayr in the next round of the Scottish Cup. He’s desperate to play in that one because he’s from there and he said that was the tie he’d been hoping for. So that tells you everything about what type of lad he is.”

Wright, while keen to keep the services of forward on Tayside, isn’t ruling out another bid from Aberdeen.

“I have been quite clear that I don’t want him to go in this window and have told the club that,” Wright added. “But I do know everyone has their price.

“At this stage there hasn’t been an agreement between Aberdeen and us.

“Derek has been really good. He’s one of the managers who is on the phone keeping you up to date with stuff in these situations.

“He’s been great about it. We spoke over the weekend but Matty is still very much our player.

“I don’t think this will drag on to the end of the window. It will get to the point where Aberdeen will say this won’t happen or we get to the stage where we think we have to do something.”

Gordon Bannerman