St Johnstone

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Why should Scottish football fans care about Czech side Viktoria Plzen drawing with Italian heavyweights Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League?

The result on Thursday night has serious consequences for the Premiership, with the Czech Republic now having leapfrogged Scotland in the coefficient standings.

Not only will the winners of the top flight no longer gain automatic qualification to the Champions League from 2025/26, but there's also a knock on effect for those finishing further down the table.

Here's everything you need to know.

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• St Johnstone have won seven of their last 10 meetings with Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership (D1 L2). Prior to this run, they had failed to score in each of their six previous league games against Kilmarnock (D2 L4).

• Kilmarnock have lost their last four away league games against St Johnstone. Stephen O'Donnell scored in a 1-0 victory in August 2019 the last time they won at McDiarmid Park.

• After beating Hibernian 2-1 last weekend, St Johnstone could win back-to-back league games for the first time since October/November 2022 (run of three). The first two wins of that run were against Hibernian and then Kilmarnock.

• Kilmarnock have drawn their last four away league games. The last side to draw five top-flight away games in a row were Dundee United between November 2010 and January 2011.

• Adama Sidibeh has scored in both of his last two league games. The last player to score in three successive Scottish Premiership appearances for St Johnstone was Michael O'Halloran in August 2017.

St Johnstone manager Craig Levein says the reason he gave Dan Phillips the captain's armband against Hibernian is the same reason the 23-year-old midfielder will be tempted away from the Perth club this summer. (Courier - subscription), external

Read Thursday's Scottish Gossip

St Johnstone welcome Kilmarnock in their final pre-split fixture on Saturday as Craig Levein looks to haul his side further away from relegation trouble.

Who should he select in his XI? Pick your team here.

Liam Gordon and DJ Jaiyesimi should be available for St Johnstone's first game under after the split, with team-mates Sven Sprangler and Drey Wright not far behind in terms of fitness. (Courier - subscription required), external

Read Wednesday's Scottish Gossip

Sam Miller
Fan writer

Craig Levein will always split opinions amongst Saints fans.

I don't quite get the negativity towards him either. He comes across well and seems a different fella nowadays. It's obvious that his tongue is in his cheek with a few of the comments he makes, but if he keeps us up this season then it's job done. We were already cut adrift by October.

The football can be a tough watch but what are we honestly expecting? He was appointed with one goal. Survival.

It was never going to be all guns blazing. His strategy was to make us harder to beat, stay in games and then try to nick the odd win.

He inherited an unbalanced squad, clearly identified an issue with the lack of pace up top and has addressed that. A massive win against Hibs should now see us stay up.

I look forward to seeing what he will do when given a bit more time and money to spend in the summer.

Sam Miller can be found on the Dogger Saints podcast, external.

Former Rangers winger Josh McPake is training with St Johnstone after signing a short-term deal with Stirling Albion as the 22-year-old is keen to maintain a full-time routine. (Daily Record), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish Gossip in full here.

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Adama Sidibeh has been named in Sportscene presenter Jonathan Sutherland's Team of the Week for his role in St Johnstone's crucial 2-1 win over Hibs.

Plucked from English non-league football, he showed his credentials with an excellent finish at Easter Road.

On today's episode of the Scottish Football Podcast, Liam McLeod is joined by Kenny Miller and Alan Stubbs.

They discuss Sunday's Old Firm thriller and look back on an action-packed Saturday in the Scottish Premiership.

Listen to the episode in full here.

The Sportscene team run the rule over an important win for St Johnstone at Easter Road.

(Available to UK users only)

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• St Johnstone have scored in their last five games in the Scottish Premiership, their longest scoring streak this season.

• Hibernian have scored in their last nine games in the Scottish Premiership, their longest scoring streak this season.

• Tony Gallacher scored his first goal in the Scottish Premiership this season.

• Hibernian have scored seven goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half, only Celtic (13) and Hearts (8) have scored more in the Scottish Premiership this season.

• Graham Carey has assisted his seventh goal this season, more than any other St Johnstone player in the Scottish Premiership.

Were you at Easter Road or following the match from home? Either way, we want your views on the game – have your say here.

St Johnstone boss Craig Levein

"It is all down to the willingness to do the work on the field and I thought the players were outstanding. Last week we had a really good performance and we didn't manage to get the points we deserved. Today was even more pleasing because we had the performance and managed to get the three points.

"There were a lot of really good things, I thought defensively we were really solid. Dimi [Mitov] made a few really good saves, making up for his rare mistake last week and I'm thrilled for him because he deserves to get credit for what he did.

"I do expect Tony Gallacher to be on the scoresheet sometimes because he's had chances but I'm just pleased he's managed to score the winner.

"It will do his confidence the world of good. I'm pleased for our supporters as well, they came down to supporters in numbers and today went some way towards alleviating some of the pressure at the club given the league position.

"Our aim is to see if we can catch some of the teams above us. We've got a lot of tough matches coming up, really important matches and if I can get that type of performance I'll take it."

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Charlotte Cohen
BBC Sport Scotland

For St Johnstone, the result will be a huge boost to their bid for survival. Adama Sidibeh was hugely impressive throughout the game and caused Hibs problems all afternoon, his goal was taken really well as well.

Dimitar Mitov between the sticks was also a key player for Craig Levein’s side and kept them in the game with some big saves.

Despite having conceded seven minutes after Sidibeh opened the scoring, St Johnstone showed real character to keep pushing and eventually reap the reward.

That result means the Saints are four points ahead of Ross County after their defeat to Kilmarnock and have a real chance of survival.

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Hibs make one change from the side that were beaten 3-1 by Rangers last weekend.

Martin Boyle returns to the Hibs starting lineup for the first time since suffering that nasty head knock in their Scottish Cup quarter-final defeat to Rangers. He replaces Elie Youan who drops to the bench.

Josh Campbell, who hasn't featured since December, is fit enough to make the bench.

Craig Levein has also made just one change from last weekend's defeat to Dundee. Andy Considine is in from the start to replace Liam Gordon who picked up a groin injury.

Hibernian: Marshall, Cadden, Bushiri, Fish, Obita, Triantis, Marcondes, Newell, Boyle, Le Fondre, Maolida.

Substitutes: Wollacott, Hanlon, Levitt, Youan, Mayenda, Stevenson, Jair, Moriah-Welsh, Campbell.

St Johnstone: Mitov, Gallacher, McGowan, Considine, Robinson, M Smith, Keltjens, Phillips, Kucheriavyi, Clark, Sidibeh.

Substitutes: Richards, MacPherson, May, Carey, Crawford, Kimpioka, Franczak, C Smith.

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St Johnstone manager Craig Levein insists his side can build on last weekend's performance against Dundee, despite the disappointing nature of the result.

Saints sit 10th in the Scottish Premiership, one point above 11th-placed Ross County, but Levein insists his team won't throw in the towel in their fight against relegation.

“Certainly the Dundee performance was one of our better ones recently, I was really pleased with the way we played,” Levein said.

“It’s terribly annoying when you’re playing well and you lose a match. But it’s football and sometimes you don’t get what you deserve. The lads are together and they’re working really hard.

“If they’d thrown the towel in, everybody would see it, so that hasn’t happened and I don’t expect that to happen at all, I expect them to keep doing what they’ve been doing, trying really hard.

“We get some really good football in spells, I’d just like to get more of that to give us better chances of winning matches.”