Elliot Watt reveals he has lost a STONE in weight at St Johnstone but never lost belief
Elliot Watt has shed the pounds during his loan at St Johnstone – a full stone's worth of them.
But the former Scotland under-21 international has never lost his conviction that he can play a starring role in keeping the Perth club in the Premiership.
Watt revealed that he has transformed his body after moving north of the border.
That was hard physical work.
However, being starved of game-time was a greater ordeal.
'Just before I left Burton (Albion) I had my body fats done for the first time in the season,' Watt explained.
'And on the back of that, I spoke to a top nutritionist who works with Tom Aspinall, the UFC fighter, and Jack Catterall the boxer who famously got robbed up here off Josh Taylor.
'I had a Zoom call with him.
'That was the first step on the ladder before I even joined St Johnstone.
'From then it's been about battering my nutrition, making sure I'm getting the right fuel in.
'My body fat has dropped massively. I'm probably weighing about a stone lighter than when I first arrived.
'I've been in the gym every day. I feel like I'm at my peak, physically.
'It's a shame that the season is ending – hopefully well for us – because I'd like to keep going in this shape.'
There was a gap of two months between Watt starting against Hearts and coming off the bench at Motherwell, with not a single minute of game-time in between.
'It was a tough time in my life, there's no hiding that,' he said. 'The first time I'd really experienced being out of the team for a long period.
'I'd probably only ever missed two games back to back. I've always been a main part of the teams I've played for.
'Eight games without playing at all was really tough, not just for me but my family.
'I've brought my fiancée and my two kids up here.
'For them to be up here and away from family and not having the chance to watch me in games was tough.
'The only way I knew to try and get back in the team was to put my head down and work harder than I ever have before.
'I feel as though I'm reaping the rewards of that now.
'I'm in the best physical state I've ever been in my career by a country mile.
'And that's thankfully shown on the pitch by adding goals and assists.
'I'm really proud of myself.'
Watt had regular chats with Simo Valakari during his time out of the team and never took the huff.
'I obviously didn't agree with it at the time,' said the 25-year-old. 'I felt there was a lot I could bring to the team and contribute.
'But I respected the decision. He's the manager at the end of the day.
'I probably instigated most of the conversations. Sometimes I walked out of his office not agreeing with why I wasn't playing.
'But it's football, thankfully he put me on in the Motherwell game to give me a chance.
'I hope I am repaying him now and I want to keep repaying him going forward.'
Watt insisted that there is plenty of fight left in the St Johnstone dressing room, with his weekend winner against Ross County ensuring the relegation battle will go into the last week of the season.
'The win was massive,' said Watt. 'It was do or die.
'We can't get carried away. It's a quick turnaround to Wednesday. Tynecastle is no easy place to go, especially at the minute.
'Beating Ross County was the first step. Now we've got to go again.
'Our character was questioned – and rightly so.
'When you're at the bottom of the league and fans are seeing the team go down, it's not a nice feeling.
'I've been there as a Preston fan myself, so I know the feeling.
'But never once from inside the changing room have I seen lads' heads drop or anybody throw the towel in.
'We've continued to fight and try to get the club out of this situation.
'When things aren't going for you, it's hard to get things to bounce your way.
'You saw that against Kilmarnock and I thought we were going to see it again with the second goal that was disallowed for them.
'Thankfully we had a bit of luck on our side and it got chalked off. We need to use this momentum on Wednesday.'
Watt has now scored two goals in three games – and proved his father right!
'My dad has been going on at me since the start of my career to take more chances, get forward more and take the shots,' said the former Wolves midfielder.
'When I was celebrating, I looked over at him and he was celebrating the most in the crowd.
'He'll definitely be pleased with that one.
'My mum and dad are the best parents you could ask for.
'They've supported me for 20-odd years so any time I'm playing they'll be up here, no matter where it is in the country.'
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