Ross County 0-1 St Johnstone

Steven MacLean (second from left) got Saints' winner

St Johnstone moved clear in fourth place in the Premiership with Steven MacLean's second half tap-in enough to earn victory at Ross County.

Danny Swanson moments earlier wasted a great chance after Andrew Davies blundered, hitting the side netting.

It was Swanson's corner though, met by Joe Shaughnessy, which fell perfectly for MacLean to slot home from inside the six-yard box.

Davies went close late on with a header that might have stolen a point.

Saints edge it, County off the pace

With Motherwell facing a tough trip to Aberdeen, both sides knew a positive result could move them into fourth.

Neither side seemed particularly motivated by that in the opening exchanges in a flat encounter offering little excitement.

Swanson was first to threaten when he stole possession from Marcus Fraser and released Graham Cummins into the box on the right-hand side.

The big striker had to pause slightly waiting for the ball to arrive, which gave Paul Quinn the chance to slide in and superbly block his shot with goalkeeper Scott Fox looking exposed.

Liam Craig and Liam Boyce battle for possession

Play was pedestrian with a final ball or spark of energy lacking, particularly from the home side who seemed unusually off the pace.

Saints midfielder Chris Millar's frustrating injury woes continued when he had to hobble off before half-time, Scott Brown replacing him.

Liam Craig tried to change the complexion of the game with a powerful strike from distance but a slight deflection did not take it away from Fox's grasp.

A rare, but wonderful piece of invention allowed Swanson to escape two defenders but his clipped cross was nodded away just as the crowd thought a chance was on.

County manager Jim McIntyre could not have been happy with what he was watching and introduced Martin Woods in place of Ian McShane. It had little effect.

Liam Boyce began to emerge in the game with two headers as County looked to get balls in from wide areas but nothing to overly stretch Zander Clark in goal.

However, a disastrous decision from Davies nearly handed St Johnstone the opener.

The defender had the chance to clear but bizarrely tried to shepherd the ball back to Fox. Cummins slid in, got the ball across and Swanson, with the goal gaping, was off target. A great chance wasted.

The goal arrived moments later from Swanson's corner, which was nodded down by Shaughnessy to MacLean, who did not hesitate to slot home.

The home side tried to respond when Jonathan Franks cut inside and fired a left-foot shot but Clark did well to hold with attackers closing in.

Davies then had a free header which he sent off target before Wotherspoon denied County's Brian Graham with a block.

But the hosts simply did not offer enough with Tommy Wright's side now in control of the chase to finish fourth.