St Johnstone: Steve Lomas plans to see out contract

St Johnstone manager Steve Lomas has insisted he envisages seeing out the remaining year of his contract at McDiarmid Park.

The Northern Irishman has been linked with jobs in England, but maintained that he was happy to stay at Saints.

"I've got another year left on my contract and I foresee me seeing that out and we'll see where it takes us," he said.

"I've loved it here and I'm extremely grateful for the opportunity.

"There's a lot of good Scottish managers that could have took the job so I'm delighted that they took the chance on me.

Lomas also maintained that his focus for the rest of the season is on achieving a Europea League spot for the club for a second season.

"My focus is to get that European spot, that would be great," he said. "I could go away and enjoy my summer.

"It would be a massive achievement to get into Europe two years on the bounce.

However, Lomas was quick to highlight the difficult fixtures facing the Perth side as the Scottish Premier League reaches its climax.

"Dundee United is never easy, then we've got an easy one at Celtic Park and Motherwell are coming here in great form," he said.

"Our aim was to get to the last game with something to play for, but we're under no illusions and it's going tio be a tough task."

Lomas also conceded that his side have lacked an out-and-out goalscorer this term.

"I think, yes, someone that's a bit clinical," he said.

"Steven MacLean can be, but he's played a role in a 4-3-3 that requires a lot of legwork and work outside the box and maybe that's sort of sacrificed it a little bit.

"We've been playing Gregory (Tade) out wide as well. We've certainly been creating the chances, but we probably haven't killed enough teams off."

One solution to that problem could be the return of young striker Stevie May, who has spent the season on loan at Hamilton, where he has proven a prolific scorer.

"Stevie is another one that we've got high hopes for," Lomas said.

"We feel that he's gone out and got good experience under his belt at First Division level and we're hoping that he makes the step up next year."