St Johnstone quell fears

Plans for £13 million worth of road works in the Perth area were lodged with the local council and could mean the demolition of the stadium`s North Stand. If approval and funding are granted, the first phase of works could begin as soon as a year from now.

Brown told the Perthshire Advertiser: "I would reiterate what I said when this was first mooted a couple of years ago - losing the North Stand would not be a disaster for St Johnstone.

"Even if we didn't replace it with anything we would still have a capacity in excess of 8,700 and that's more than the new St Mirren ground.

"Any supporter who has seen two stands lying empty for many of the games in the SPL in the past two years will know that this has to be done.

"However, I wouldn't want a gap site with the motorway passing outside a fence line. We would be looking for something to finish it off, like a smaller stand."