St Johnstone manager Craig Levein has pledged that McDiarmid Park starlet, Fran Franczak, will have a role to play in the Perth club’s Premiership survival bid.
And the Perth boss revealed that the club’s youngest ever player has shown that he is “back at it again”.
The 16-year-old made his debut in September and has featured on eight occasions for the first team in total.
There was a two-month spell when Levein decided not to use Franczak from the start or off the bench.
But he has seen the local boy’s energy and enthusiasm rub off on the rest of the Saints squad in recent weeks.
Combined with the quality he’s showing on the training pitch, that will lead to post-split game-time.
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“Fran has been training well so I’m fairly certain you’ll see him between now and the end of the season,” said Levein.
“We took him out a while back because it was all quite a lot for him.
“With young players, you can see it when they train if they start to level off a little bit.
“I took him out because of that.
“He’s only 16 and when he came into the side he’d just turned 16, so it was a lot to happen in a very short space of time.
“He’s back at it again. He’s got an enthusiasm and youthfulness that is great to have around the place.
“The older players tend to look after young lads like him too and I’ve seen them all helping him along every day.
“He was very good when I played him against Hibs here last year and then he went to Ibrox and was different class.
“So I don’t have any concerns about him handling the situation we’re in. He’s got that youthful attitude you like in players coming up.”
Fran Franczak ‘not a normal 16-year-old’
Franczak’s dynamism could be an important weapon for Levein over the next five games.
“I don’t have any worries about his physicality, strength or speed because he’s not like a normal 16-year-old,” he said.
“He’s a tough lad who has dealt with everything we’ve thrown at him so far so no doubt he’ll be part of the team in these last five matches.
“I wouldn’t say he’ll play every game but I do expect him to contribute.
“He’s done well to play the amount of games he has already in the Premiership.
“It’s great for him and great for us looking to the future too.”
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