St Johnstone 1-0 Dundee: Wright hails 'tremendous' Saints

St Johnstone beat Dundee 1-0 at McDiarmid Park

St Johnstone manager Tommy hailed "a tremendous achievement" by his squad after victory over Dundee secured a fourth successive top-six finish.

Brian Graham's first-half goal gave Saints a 1-0 win and ensured they will be in the top half when the Scottish Premiership splits later this month.

"It feels great," said Wright. "It wasn't a pretty game but the main thing for us was to get three points.

"I often think it's underestimated the job that the players do here."

Last season's Scottish Cup winners sold striker Stevie May to Sheffield Wednesday at the start of the season and Wright feels the Perth men have had to dig deep to get into the top six for their final five games of the season.

"We had lost 27 goals in Stevie May," explained the manager.

Paul Hartley's Dundee lost but they remain on course for a top-half finish

"We're probably the first team to get in the top six scoring less than 30 goals. We've had to be dogged, more resilient. We're always renowned for that but I think even more so this season.

"All season, we've been in and around the top six and it was important to see the job off and we did. We've found a way to win games and we've played some good football at times.

"For the squad that we have, to get top six now four years in a row is a tremendous achievement.

"We're only one point behind Dundee United with an outside chance of getting into fourth and possibly Europe, depending on who wins the cup.

"So, it really does give us a lift for the rest of the season."

Dundee are all but secured a top-six place as well but Kilmarnock still have an arithmetic chance of pipping the Dens Park side.

However, should Killie drop points against Aberdeen on Sunday or at Celtic Park on Wednesday, Dundee's top-half finish will be assured.

"We'll all be tuned to the game tomorrow [Kilmarnock v Aberdeen] and if we can get in there then I think it's been a fantastic season for us," said Dundee boss Paul Hartley.

"It was a scrappy game. It wasn't our best performance. The players looked a little bit jaded.

"They put a lot into the game on Wednesday night [the 3-1 defeat of Dundee United]. Overall, we've not really got any complaints about the scoreline. "We didn't threaten enough today."