Can 'right good' St Johnstone go all the way?

There will no doubt be frustration among St Johnstone supporters following Saturday's goalless draw against Ross County, but Simo Valakari's side are still the team to beat in the Scottish Championship.

After 10 games, the team who finished bottom of the top flight last term have picked up 24 points from 30 and are six points clear of Partick Thistle in second, albeit the Glasgow side have a game in hand.

They're yet to lose a league game this season and, while Valakari won't want to get carried away, fans can take confidence knowing they're in a better position now than last year's winners Falkirk were at this point in the season.

With 10 matches gone, St Johnstone are averaging 2.4 points per game, slightly higher than Falkirk's 2.3 average last autumn.

In fact, Valakari's side are in a better position than three of the last five Championship winners were after the same number of games and have the same points per game average as the other two - Hearts and Dundee United.

None of those teams maintained quite the same pace over the course of the campaign, but Falkirk's mark of 2.02 last year gives a measure of what will be needed this time.

Since the Championship began in 2009-10, there have only been four years when the title winners have finished with a points-per-game record of less than 2.0 - County in 2018-19, Hibs in 2016-17, Dundee in 2013-14 and Dunfermline in 2010-11.

So St Johnstone are in a positive place, but it's unlikely to be smooth sailing between now and the end of the season.

After Partick Thistle's fight-back to salvage a point at Morton and unlikely challengers Arbroath's comfortable 4-1 victory over Queen's Park, they will still have to watch their backs.

When asked if the Perth club are the likeliest winners, former St Johnstone Billy Dodds said on Sportsound: "On today's evidence I would say so.

"They look a right good team, although they might just lack a bit of height, especially at set-pieces. Their brand of football is really good. It's not just quick passing, they dart about."

But Dodds thinks it will be up to the other sides in the Championship to force a mistake from the current leaders if somebody else wants to snatch the crown.

"I don't see them losing enough games for anybody to catch them," he added. "But teams have got to hang in there and put them under pressure."