Newcastle's Jay Turner-Cooke backed to enjoy successful St Johnstone loan and impress in Perth like Mehdi Abeid did

St Johnstone manager Steven MacLean hopes new Newcastle loan signing Jay Turner-Cooke can follow in the footsteps of Mehdi Abeid.

Abeid arrived in Perth from the Magpies for the latter half of the 2012/2013 campaign and quickly impressed supporters with his drive and technical ability.

He actually played in the same team as MacLean.

Midfielder Turner-Cooke’s move north for the season was finalised this week and he could be thrown straight into action against Celtic in Glasgow.

“I remember Mehdi Abeid couldn’t get in the team at one point,” MacLean said. “That was how well we were doing.

“But he was an energetic midfielder, did really well and was good to play with.

“He ended up going to Panathinaikos so that showed you the pedigree he had.

“Hopefully Jay now comes in and does well too. He has played for Newcastle against teams like Villarreal.

“You don’t play for Eddie Howe’s team if you can’t run and don’t have good ability.”

There could be numerous Perth debuts for young loan stars tomorrow, with defender Luke Robinson and attacker Dara Costelloe fit and raring to go.

MacLean said: “They probably won’t have experienced anything like it (Celtic Park).

“When they come up they will look at Celtic, Rangers, Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen. These are big games against big clubs and they are desperate to be involved.

“Their parent clubs will be looking to see if they can handle these situations.

“If they come here and do well, it is a win-win. We can either sign them ourselves or they go back to their parent club.”

Celtic were knocked out of the League Cup by Kilmarnock last week.

“If I’m being honest, it is probably worse for us that they are coming off a defeat,” MacLean said.

“Kilmarnock put in a great performance and their