Craig Levein is prioritising the signing of a centre-back as he looks to bolster the St Johnstone squad with free agents.

Sam McClelland is out with a long-term Achilles injury and fellow central defender Jack Sanders is suspended for Saturday’s game at Hibs.

Charles Dunne, who Stephen Robinson has confirmed is training with St Mirren after leaving the Paisley club this summer, has been mooted for a move to Perth.

“He’s one of a number of centre-backs who is still on the market,” Saints boss Levein said.

“We’re looking at a number of different things at the moment. With Sam McClelland being out for most of the season it’s a little bit of a blow for us.

“I feel that we’re quite low and quite bare in that position so we still need to strengthen there.

“Sam’s just doing his recovery at the moment and the operation went well. It’s a matter of it being a long slog. Hopefully he comes back stronger.”

Levein says it was time to give Ross Sinclair a “reward” for his improvement in training following elbow surgery by restoring him to the first team at the expense of Jose Rae for the defeat by Motherwell before the international break.

“Josh has had the jersey from probably halfway through pre-season,” Levein added.

“He’s made a few errors and I just felt that Ross had been training well. I just thought we needed a change.

“Ross has been out for an awfully long time with his elbow injury and he’s gradually been improving during training and it was time to give him a reward for that improvement.”