St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright insists Michael O'Halloran won't be sold on the cheap in the face of interest from Rangers.

The McDiarmid Park club have already rejected two bids for the striker from Rangers, with the player left out of St Johnstone's squad for Saturday's clash with Hamilton Accies.

The reason for not selecting the forward, Wright said, was that he felt the 25-year-old was not "mentally right" amid all the speculation about his future.

And on that subject, Wright also warned Rangers that if they want to come in with a third offer for the player, they will need to pay the asking price.

Wright said: "I didn't feel Michael was right to play. I didn't feel he was right mentally from the middle of the week.

"I have to put out the best team I think will get us a result. Where Michael is at the minute it would have been remiss of me not to consider not playing him.

"If I don't play him there is no point putting him on the bench. The fact Craig Thomson came in and did well proved I made the right decision.

"There is a lot of speculation. Michael and I have a good relationship and it was my decision and solely my decision not to play him based on how I felt he was.

"I just knew by his body language he wasn't right."

Regarding Rangers' interest, Wright added: "It is great he is being linked with Rangers because they are a massive club.

"There has been two bids and both have been knocked back. "It is simple economics as well. (Rangers manager) Mark Warburton has a business background.

"He knows that if you go into a shop and want to buy something you have to pay the price. "As far as I'm aware there has not been a third bid so Michael is still our player.

"He is contracted to us for the next 18 months. We are entitled to knock back bids while Rangers are entitled to make bids. Hopefully he will be in for training on Monday and we will get him ready for Celtic on Sunday."