Dundee Utd 1-1 St Johnstone: Hosts must 'learn quickly', says Micky Mellon

Dundee United will need to "learn very quickly" said manager Micky Mellon as they were pegged back by 10-man St Johnstone on their Premiership return.

United dominated the first half, buoyed by Nicky Clark's penalty, and looked favourites when Michael O'Halloran was sent off before the interval.

However, Liam Craig smashed home a wonderful volley to level.

The depleted visitors were then the better side, with David Wotherspoon and Danny McNamara denied by good saves.

The hosts found a late second wind but neither side could find a winner in a frantic last few moments.

"I felt we were okay and then we lose a goal from a bit of detail that we have worked on and the lads knew the work that had to be done and we just came off it a little bit," Mellon told BBC Scotland.

"It will be a continual learning process, they've come up a new level now as the champions last year. They'll get different questions now at a higher level against stronger teams and we'll have to get used those lessons very, very quickly."

• Reaction & as it happened

• How did the players rate?

United have been absent from the top flight for five years and looked in a hurry to make up for lost time, playing with great energy in midfield while wing-backs Liam Smith and Jamie Robson galloped forward.

A shot from Smith was blocked by a raised arm and Clark stepped up to covert the spot-kick on six minutes.

Robson had a close-range shot blocked by Elliot Parish and the visiting keeper had to smother a shot from Peter Pawlett, who was linking well with forwards Clark and Lawrence Shankland.

Wotherspoon hammered a shot narrowly wide for St Johnstone, while Callum Hendry took one touch too many after some fine footwork, allowing Robson to get in a vital touch.

A poor first half for the visitors ended on a sour note with O'Halloran late in a challenge on Calum Butcher to pick up his second caution.

Craig's goal arrived out of the blue, with Mark Connolly's attempted interception looping up perfectly for the midfielder to crack in from 15 yards.

Suddenly, the depleted visitors were on top and Benjamin Siegrist was the busier goalkeeper, making two good stops.

"Once we got a man sent off we were tremendous," said Saints boss Callum Davidson. "I would have been really disappointed if we hadn't taken anything from the game."

Davidson had no issue with the red card, saying O'Halloran had been fortunate to avoid a booking shortly before the second yellow.

"We actually said 'do we bring him off now', but he goes and puts another tackle in and that was the end of it. Michael has to realise that when you are on a booking and when you've been let off you've got to be very careful."

Man of the match - Jamie Robson

Robson was a blur of industry on the left flank as United started impressively. However, he and his team-mates fell out of the game after the interval.

What did we learn?

Shankland was full of nice touches in the opening 45 minutes but the prolific striker, with a hatful of Championship goals over the past three seasons, only got two meaningful sights of goal.

His first attempt was blocked and, early in the second half with the score at 1-0, he twisted Liam Gordon one way then the other before shooting over the top.

The St Johnstone defence was much improved after the break and Shankland was kept quiet before setting up Pawlett with a great chance to score late on, with McNamara sliding in to make the best tackle of the day in front of goal.

McNamara had an eye-catching debut for the visitors, the on-loan Millwall full-back improving as he adapted to the pace of the game, while Wotherspoon, who led the attacking statistics with four shots, was a big factor in the comeback.

Both managers will be happy with one half and fuming with the other.

What did they say?

Dundee United manager Micky Mellon: "We will get better, we will get fitter and we will get more organised. Overall, it was a decent performance but we're disappointed not to keep control of the game after they went down to 10 men. We just couldn't find that little break we needed against a packed defence."

St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson: "The players showed character, dug in and battled. There are areas where we can improve but I thought our fitness levels were tremendous."

What's next?

St Johnstone are at home to Aberdeen next Saturday, with Dundee United travelling to Motherwell on the same day.