Stubbs On Allan & El Alagui

Head coach Alan Stubbs has encouraged midfielder Scott Allan to shoot more following his second goal for the club giving us all three points against Alloa Athletic at the weekend.

The 26 minute goal was enough to separate the sides come the full time whistle but it was hardly a game peppered with chances. The three points to keep us ticking over in second place in the Championship though, now four points ahead of Rangers, although there are the games in hand to contend with yet.

Speaking to the Edinburgh News following Allan’s free kick, Stubbs explained that he felt there was a lot more to come from the player if he opened up and took more risks around the penalty box instead of always looking to play somebody else in.

‘He wants to provide rather than score, but he has that in his locker. He gets himself into some great positions and we’ve been on at him all the time to shoot and have more shots on goal. But sometimes he wants to play that really clever pass. But you can’t have everything – otherwise he wouldn’t be playing here. Scott has belief, he knows he has ability and we just need to keep working on it, keeping his attitude and focus right because on his day he can be the difference.’

With it being noted that sometimes Allan can overplay looking for that killer pass and his decision making can be questioned, Stubbs said that wasn’t however an issue for him because when you have a player like that sometimes the wrong choice will be made and you have to accept it because in accepting the errors it opens up the successes.

As for Farid El Alagui’s continuing recovery from injury, it’s been decided the development game against St Johnstone came too quickly for him, so instead Stubbs is looking into the possibility of a behind closed doors friendly for him instead this coming week to get him some game time.

The player has been out since August after rupturing his Achilles tendon on Alloa’s plastic pitch, but it’s felt he needs a week of training before turning out for the U20’s as he continues to work on his fitness and a hopeful return to first team action – and hopefully a return to the form that saw him bag four goals in six games prior to the injury.