SUTTY: I'LL PROVE I'M NO SAINTS DUMMY

JOHN SUTTON is known as "Lord Charles" to his teammates but the striker is out to prove he's no SPL dummy.

The Englishman's carefully modulated tones and elegant air prompted St Mirren boss Gus MacPherson to make the comparison with the aristocratic, wooden half of the ventriloquist act.

But Sutton is too busy trying to make an impression on the park to take offence at his manager's line in sarcasm off it. And there are no strings attached to his determination to avoid being relegated from the SPL for a second time in his still fledgling career.

Even today's game against Hearts at Tynecastle will have a special reason for fuelling his desire to do better the second time around, having already been demoted as a Dundee player.

He said: "I remember I came on as a sub when we were down to 10 men and losing by three goals. The fans made more of an impression on me than I was able to make on the game.

"I liked the claustrophobic atmosphere at Tynecastle and it is the kind of place where it's a test of yourself. We'll be playing a team full of players with great individual reputations and the important thing is not to get fazed by that.

"It's possible we've made a rod for our own backs by starting with six points out of six. Now it looks as if we've hit a sticky patch, when the fact is our performances have been better than results suggest.

"Last season when St Mirren were in the First Division we had to break down the teams we came up against. Now we're the side everybody fancies taking advantage of in the SPL."

Sutton started the season with back-to-back goals against Inverness and Motherwell but has drawn a blank since.

He said: "I know goals determine everything in football but I can't gauge everything I do by numbers.

"My aim at the start of the season was to be a better player by the end of it, and that's what I work to do when I come to training every day. "

"If I'm unselfish and can assist in the creation of goals for the team, that will satisfy me."

Taken from the Daily Record