St Johnstone

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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St Johnstone manager Simo Valakari has been speaking to the media before Monday night's Scottish Cup quarter-final at Livingston.

Here are the key lines:

• Valakari says it is a "big game" and a "big opportunity" and his side need to take a "nothing to lose attitude" into it.

• He praised Livingston, describing them as a "very well coached" side with real individual quality and a great team ethic and warns: "We really need to be ready."

• He says Livi use the dark football arts - or "all the smart tricks" - to win games, for example "they will only put water on one half of the field". Valakari adds: "I like it, that is how it should be."

• Valakari revealed that while he was coaching in Finland he tried to sign current Livingston striker Tete Yengi.

• He doesn't think there is much of a gulf between the teams, noting Livi are used to winning games and will be in a positive mood, but insists "we are in good form".

• Valakari says that while there would obvious financial benefits to getting to a semi final at Hampden, pride is also a huge driving factor.

• Team news: No injury worries and "everyone is training".

St Johnstone sit bottom of the Scottish Premiership table, three points adrift of Dundee and six points from Kilmarnock in 10th.

The Perth Saints drew 1-1 against Dundee last weekend, but can they push themselves to safety?

You know your club best, so what is the one thing regarding St Johnstone - good or bad - nobody is talking about?

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Sam Miller
Fan writer

It's the hope that kills you. For three brief minutes on Saturday afternoon we had eaten up all 10 of the points we were adrift by.

A Simon Murray equaliser and a share of the spoils away to Dundee wasn't a disaster. It wasn't a must-win game, more a must not lose.

With that achieved and momentum still on our side, it's still a two-horse race for the trap door, but I still fancy us to upset the odds. Again.

The Scottish Cup quarter-final at Livingston this weekend will be a great gauge to see how we fare against a title contender. We might just be facing one of them come the end of May.

Sam Miller can be found at Dogger Saints, external

Sportscene pundits Cammy Bell and Michael Stewart analyse Makenzie Kirk's goal in St Johnstone's draw against Dundee.

Watch all the action from Dundee and St Johnstone's 1-1 draw in the Scottish Premiership.

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We asked for your views on St Johnstone's 1-1 draw against Dundee.

Here's what some of you said:

Jimmy: A battling performance, I felt we should have won, one of those 'what if' moments when Adama Sidibeh swiped at the ball. All in all, it's a game we didn't lose, there are more points out there, points that we can earn when we play that bit better. I feel we need Benjamin Kimpioka back, he's had his ups and downs, he needs to knuckle down now and get back to scoring.

Roy: A chance missed but another encouraging performance. Despite being the only Premiership side to face three games in six days, Saints utterly dominated the worst side we've faced for many a season in the first half. Clearly tiring in the second half, we still did enough to fend them off. If we keep playing how we can, there is no way we will finish below them.

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• Dundee have failed to win in their last eight games in the Premiership, their last longer winless streak was from 6 April 2024 to 4 August 2024, a run of nine games.

• Dundee have won 11 points from losing positions in the Premiership this season, only Kilmarnock (12) and Hibernian (13) have recovered more.

• St. Johnstone have scored in their last 9 games in the Premiership, their longest run of games with a goal in the competition since a run of 15 games from 5 April 2017 to 23 September 2017.

• St. Johnstone have lost 17 points from winning positions in the Premiership this season, only Dundee (20) and Hibernian (18) have lost more.

• Simon Murray has contributed to goals in his last three games in the Premiership (three goals, 0 assists).

Dundee missed out on the chance to move six points clear of bottom side St Johnstone after being held to a draw by their relegation rivals at Dens Park.

Tony Docherty's hosts had to come from behind to earn a point but passed up numerous opportunities to claim all three.

Saints striker Makenzie Kirk fired the visitors ahead after 40 minutes with his 10th goal of the season, but their lead did not last.

Simon Murray latched on to captain Joe Shaughnessy's flick-on to net his 16th of the campaign and equalise just before half time.

The hosts dominated the second period but failed to find a winner. Aaron Donnelly, Murray and Scott Tiffoney were all guilty of missing big chances as Dundee make it eight matches without a win.

The gap between the league's bottom two remains just three points.

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St Johnstone manager Simo Valakari: "One of our issues has been in these games, when we cannot win, we have lost it.

"Today we could not win, but we were able to the get draw, I am very pleased with that.

"I'm very happy with how we defended these moments at the end. Overall, an okay away performance.

"I feel it (the nerves), the fans feel it, the players feel it. The opponents made it difficult for us.

"Our players felt it physically and mentally but they enjoyed the moment.

"It's a tough league, we have been so deep, now we need to stay there and make this final push for everything to be good."

Adam Binnie
BBC Sport Scotland

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St Johnstone are not playing like a side who are going down.

Manager Simo Valakari conceded before this match that his side are favourites for the drop, but recent performances suggest that there is plenty of fight left in his team.

Despite missing out on the opportunity to move level on points with Saturday's opponents, a point away from home keeps them within touching distance.

The supporters stayed behind to applaud the players off the pitch at full-time; they still believe.

Perhaps the great escape is on.

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Dundee remain without Antonio Portales (calf), Seb Palmer-Houlden (knee), Clark Robertson (hamstring), Billy Koumetio (ankle) and Scott Fraser (groin).

St Johnstone lost Bozo Mikulic to a long-term knee injury in midweek. Benji Kimpioka and Victor Griffith are close to a return but Uche Ikpeazu (knee) and Sam McClelland (Achilles) are out long term while Andre Raymond has joined Dunfermline on loan.

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Simo Valakari says there is no better occasion for his players to follow up their midweek win than in a Tayside derby against fellow strugglers Dundee.

St Johnstone have won three of their last five top-flight games and are three points adrift of Tony Docherty's 11th-place side.

A win by two goals or more would move St Johnstone off the bottom for the first time since mid-December.

"You feel it, you feel a little bit, but you need to go again," Valakari said of potential fatigue in his side's third game in a week.

"And no better place to go than this game now, a local derby, a big, big game for many, many, many reasons. And I think it will be a great atmosphere."

The 51-year-old Finn's first game in charge was a dramatic late win at Dens Park, but at the start of 2025 his side were beaten 3-1 by the Dark Blues.

"It was one of the biggest things in my coaching career to feel that," Valakari added on his debut win.

"But at the same time, I felt it maybe most low as well in this one game we played them here in our own stadium, in front of our own fans, 3-0 after 15 minutes.

"So high and low. I felt both. And now again, it's a new occasion, a new game.

"They want to attack us, they want to put us under pressure, they want to hit us in counter-attacks and score early goals and make it very difficult for us. So we need to prepare ourselves mentally and physically.

"We need to be, first of all, ready for this occasion, we know it will be a high-intensive game, with a lot of duels, with a lot of second balls you need to win."

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• Dundee have won three of their last four league meetings with St Johnstone (L1), more than their previous 11 beforehand (W2 D3 L6).

• After their 2-1 win in October, St Johnstone could win away to Dundee twice within a single top-fight season for the first time since 1998-99.

• Dundee have lost their past five league games, their longest such run in the Scottish Premiership since January 2022 (six).

• St Johnstone have won three of their past five league games (L2), as many as their previous 21 beforehand (W3 D3 L15).

• Makenzie Kirk has scored six goals for St Johnstone in the Scottish Premiership this season, the most by a player aged 21 or younger for the club in a single league campaign since Stevie May in 2013-14 (20).

Sportscene pundits Michael Stewart and Richard Foster assess St Johnstone's survival prospects after the crucial win over Ross County.

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Striker Makenzie Kirk says St Johnstone "need to stay focused" after a "massive" win over Ross County.

Kirk netted the only goal as Saints saw off the Staggies at McDiarmid Park on Wednesday night to move within within three points of second-bottom Dundee, who host Simo Valakari's side on Saturday.

"It is massive for us," Kirk said.

"We knew coming into the game it was going to be a big one for us and we just had to go in and do what we did. We have to take the momentum into Saturday.

"For us in the changing room, we know what we need to do, we just need to stay focused and keep doing what we are doing. We just need to keep grinding out results and hopefully by the split the gap is closer and we have more of a chance.

"He [Valakari] is really positive and believes in us. The players believe in ourselves so we just need to keep getting important victories."

We asked you for your opinions on the 1-0 win over Ross County that narrowed St Johnstone's deficit at the bottom to three points.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Henri: Zach Mitchell, Makenzie Kirk and Stephen Duke-McKenna all put in an exceptionally good performance. We just need to channel our result and that energy into the game on Saturday to have any, albeit little, chance of staying up.

Stuart: A team who knew what they had to do went out and did everything correct. Really should have been over at half-time, if not for the County keeper. We clawed ourselves back in before a big game on Saturday. Mitchell and Daniels Balodis looked composed at the back, Duke-McKenna took his start well.

Gary: The worry for me is Saints only scored because of a mistake. All that possession and we couldn't score without a mistake. Dundee won't be so generous in the derby in Saturday. Hopefully Simo Valakari tries to play a more direct style.

Brian: A testament to the manager that even considering the season we've suffered, fans are still very much behind Valakari and the team. His transparency and investment in the club, and Perth area, has been a breath of fresh air. Another big one on Saturday, but we're going with belief.

Paul: A very encouraging display against a lacklustre County team who have an impressive away record. Mitchell, for me, was MOTM at centre-half and closely followed by the matchwinner Kirk.

Willie: Three changes to the team had a positive impact. Jason Holt used all his experience and craft in midfield, Duke-McKenna is the type of player fans love. Mitchell, a man of the match performance and a player who will be on the radar of all the big clubs. The fans are right behind Simo and the players are looking confident of the great escape.

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• St. Johnstone have scored in their last eight games in the Premiership, their longest stretch of games with a goal in the competition since a run of eight from 21 October 2022 to 28 December 2022.

• Ross County have failed to score in 11 of their 28 games, no team has failed to do so more often in the Premiership this season.

• Makenzie Kirk has scored six goals in the Premiership this season (one in this game), no St Johnstone player has more.

• Ross County have a record of W0, D0, L6 when conceding the opening goal away from home in the Premiership this season.

Watch the best of the action as Scottish Premiership bottom side St Johnstone beat Ross County.

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St Johnstone's Scottish Premiership survival hopes were give a significant boost after a deserved 1-0 victory over Ross County.

Makenzie Kirk's close-range finish, smashing in after a Stephen Duke-McKenna effort was parried by Jordan Amissah, moves Simo Valakari's side to within three points of second bottom Dundee with 10 games of the season to play.

County travelled to Perth with a record of four wins from their previous five away league games, but it was the hosts who had the better of a competitive first half.

St Johnstone created several good goalscoring opportunities but were foiled on each occasion by an inspired Jordan Amissah in the County goal.

St Johnstone fans, were you at McDiarmid Park on Wednesday night or following the action from home? Either way we want your views on the game.

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St Johnstone manager Simo Valakari: "It was a big win. This match was our most must win game for our hopes for the rest of the season.

"Yes we needed the win but I'm most happy with how the players performed in this high pressure game. We kept our heads, we were well balanced in transition and defended when we needed to. To win the game in this circumstances, I'm very happy.

"We needed this win but I'm most pleased that it gives us the confidence we can play like we played in these circumstances.

"We didn't score early, we couldn't score in the first half but we kept going then we got our goal. It would have been nice to score more goals, so it wasn't so nerve-racking at the end but I think we deserved this win.

"It's hard to explain to outside people because they don't see what I see everyday in my players - there is desire to get results.

"We have not been good enough, we have not deserved to win in some matches. But today we won the match and these three points are so massive.

"Nothing has changed, we didn't get too low after the Hearts match and now we are not going to get too high. We recover and it's a very big match again at the weekend."

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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This feels like a big few days for St Johnstone in terms of their hopes of avoiding automatic relegation.

A healthy haul of points from their home date with County, and their massive trip to face second bottom Dundee, appeared a pre-requisite with regards to their aim of trying to dodge the dreaded drop. And they have achieved the first part of that.

After back-to-back defeats, the victory over County will have everybody at McDiarmid Park feeling a bit better about themselves.

Valakari's side remain bottom of the table and they still have plenty of work to do, but if they can back this victory up with another at Dens Park on Sunday, the Perth side will definitely believe they can pull off a relegation great escape.

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Makenzie Kirk scored the only goal in what could prove to be a massive three points for St Johnstone in their fight for survival.