WHILE Rangers were struggling and failing to score at Ibrox, Michael O'Halloran would have been forgiven if he allowed himself a smile while pondering again why he was allowed to join a St Johnstone side who now sit five points ahead of his parent club after their best start to a top flight campaign, aided in no small way by his goals.
O'Halloran was allowed to leave Rangers by Pedro Caixinha to rejoin Saints, and gis strike against Thistle was his fourth league goal in three games – the same amount as the entire Rangers side have mustered.
O'Halloran's presence in Perth is to St Johnstone's great benefit and he was the class act as Saints deservedly beat a Thistle side who took three quarters of the game to wake up to the fact they were staring at their third defeat out of three in the league.
O'Halloran's movement and composed finishing were the difference and they already look like they are well placed to claim yet another top-six finish. Defender Steven Anderson – whose defence-splitting pass teed up his colleague – certainly can't believe his luck Rangers have allowed the forward to return to Perth.
He said: "We knew what Mikey was all about. We’ve seen it all before. He’s in an environment he loves. He knows all the boys really well and the gaffer. He thrives on it. You can see that he’s enjoying his football and scoring goals. That’s what he did before he left.
"Confidence can be a big thing but he was exactly the same Mikey when he came back. He’s got something to prove – maybe prove Rangers wrong – and that’s what he’s doing. I really don’t know what happened at Rangers. I don’t think he got a lot of chances to be honest.
"I don’t know why it hasn’t worked out for him at Rangers. Maybe Pedro Caixinha will be looking at him and thinking, ‘I should bring him back’. You never know. I’m just glad he’s with us and scoring goals."
Next up in their quest to continue their 100-per-cent league record is a daunting trip to face Celtic. However, they won't be short in confidence for the trip to Glasgow and they remain the last Scottish team to defeat the Champions.
Anderson said: "They’re flying. It’s hard when they’re like that. We’ll be trying to get a result, though. The gaffer will have a plan which we’ll work on through the week and try and deliver for him on Saturday.
"We want to be the first team to beat them, or get a draw. We’ve nothing to lose. Everybody will write us off."
For the Jags, manager Alan Archibald admitted he was worried about his side's start to the campaign, especially with Aberdeen up next on the horizon.
Thistle haven't played badly in their three losses to Hibs, Celtic and Saints, but they must transfer that to points on the board, as midfielder Adam Barton stressed.
"As soon as we get points on the board then you get your confidence," he said. "But that's three games in and we should have some points by now. If we want that top six place then we can't sit here and talk about excuses. We've got the squad to do it. It's just about getting that mental toughness back.
"I joined the club last season about four games in and we hadn't made a good start then either. We've got a lot of points to play for but it's very disappointing."
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