Vaclav Hladky is determined to play through the grief of losing best friend Josef Sural to help St Mirren stay in the Scottish Premiership.
Sural, 28, was killed when Turkish club Aytemiz Alanyaspor’s bus crashed after a match on Sunday.
Hladky, who had Sural as the best man at his wedding, will attend the funeral in his native Czech Republic next week after Saturday’s visit to Motherwell.
“He is adamant he is keen to play,” St Mirren manager Oran Kearney said.
“It has been a really tough few days for him. We have had quite a few conversations and all we can do at this time is pass our sincere condolences on to the family.
“He was Vaclav’s best man at his wedding so they were obviously very close and had a very strong friendship.
“I appreciate where he is at and I think he is appreciative of where we are at as a club and he is adamant that he wants to do his bit on Saturday before he goes back on Sunday. He’s a really good pro.”
With three fixtures remaining, St Mirren are seven points ahead of bottom side Dundee and two behind Hamilton.
Winger Anders Dreyer has returned to parent club Brighton after suffering a knee injury, with Kearney saying the Danish 21-year-old is “finished for the season”.
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