On loan St Johnstone keeper faces fight for St Andrews United starting spot

Despite recently signing goalkeeper Kyle Thomson on loan from Scottish Premiership outfit St Johnstone, it was Logan Halliday who was between the sticks for the Vale match and he excelled in the win, behind a new central defensive partnership of young loanees, Dundee kid David Cabrelli and Dunfermline Athletic’s John Todd.

"Logan has done really well since I’ve come in,” Shields said. “He was outstanding in the first game against Oakley and rightly so he has maintained his position.

"Kyle is an excellent addition who will add a lot of competition to Logan. Kyle will get his opportunity. I’m bringing players in because I want to play them.

"St Johnstone have been kind enough to give me Kyle on loan and that’s how you build relationships, by them trusting you to look after them and play them in games.

"Kyle’s contract is up in the summer and St Johnstone want to see him progress and see how he does in this environment.

"David has recovered after being out with a knee injury so I think it was his first competitive game in three months and he was outstanding.

"He’s just a good defender, a good ball playing centre-back, he’s young, he wants to learn, he’s really powerful and explosively quick. And that helps playing against some teams who are fairly direct and playing balls in behind.

"He tidies up really well and him and John really complement each other. John is also very good on the ball and is a little bit taller than David but maybe not as quick.

"There are ways to go before they become the finished product but my job is to make them better players by the time I send them back to Dundee and Dunfermline. We have a core group of players re-signed who I want to make better, and the other part of the squad will be loan players.”

In a home league double, Saints host bottom side Edinburgh University this Saturday in a 2.30pm kick-off before playing Hill of Beath Hawthorn in a 7.30pm kick-off on Tuesday.

Looking ahead to the Edinburgh Uni match, Shields said: “I always say this to the players, there are no easy games in this league.

"We have done nothing this season so far.

"We’re third bottom for a reason, because we’ve not been good enough to get out the bottom three.

"We still have to keep improving ourselves in this league.

"When results are great it breeds confidence but I know how quickly it can turn.

"Two mistakes against Whitehill recently and we lost two goals.

"I’m not underestimating Edinburgh by any means. They’re very clear with how they play, there’s a good playing style with them.

"The players will get the exact same data and feedback as what they’ve been given about prior opposition.”