St Johnstone

Andy Campbell
BBC Scotland

It's all about winning for Celtic at this stage of the campaign and on that scale they delivered.

Rangers have been a bigger problem to Celtic this season than last term or during boss Brendan Rodgers' previous spell as manager and that has raised the stakes but so long as the defending champions keep picking up victories like this, another title is well within reach.

St Johnstone's approach was to defend stoutly and compete where possible further up the park. The first part they did well enough, the latter not so much. Adama Sidibeh was isolated in attack and his frustration boiled over with a booking for catching Stephen Welsh with an arm.

The mission for Craig Levein's side now is survival and with Dimitar Mitov in goal, Saints at least have a chance of staying in games. He kept out a Tomoki Iwata strike with an impressive first-half save, touched an O'Riley free-kick over in the second period and denied substitute Adam Idah at close range late on.

Two big names back in the Celtic starting XI with Cameron Carter-Vickers returning to defence and assuming the captaincy in Callum McGregor's absence. Liam Scales is the defender who drops out, due to injury.

Kyogo Furuhashi starts in attack after scoring off the bench in last weekend's Scottish Cup win over Livingston, Adam Idah moving to the bench.

St Johnstone make four changes with defenders Matthew Smith and Andy Considine starting, Graham Carey coming in to the middle of the park and Adama Sidibeh joining the attack.

Connor Smith, Nicky Clark and Benjamin Kimpioka are on the bench and Diallang Jaiyesimi misses out.

Image source, SNS

Celtic: Hart, Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Welsh, Taylor, Iwata, O'Riley, Bernardo, Kuhn, Kyogo, Maeda.

Substitutes: Bain, Lagerbielke, Idah, Holm, Oh, Vata, Kelly, Forrest, Ralston.

St Johnstone: Mitov, M Smith, McGowan, Gordon, Considine, Robinson, Sprangler, Keltjens, Carey, Sidibeh, Phillips.

Substitutes: Richards, Gallacher, May, Clark, Kucheriavyi, Kimpioka, Franczak, C Smith.

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Dan Phillips says the competition in the St Johnstone midfield has spurred him on to international call-ups for Trinidad and Tobago.

The 23-year-old has impressed in the engine room at McDiarmid Park this season and says receiving recognition for his country is a proud moment for his family.

“I am absolutely delighted,” Phillips said. “The international side of things is always something I have my eye on. It is a big target for me personally.

“I have to do well for St Johnstone first and foremost to get myself in the picture for Trinidad and I think my call-up is testament to how I have managed to keep myself going and I am really happy to be involved.

“I think there has been a lot of competition in the midfield at Saints and we have all been fighting for spots in the team. That has helped push me on.

“My family are really proud of my achievements. For my family it is an opportunity for them to come and watch me, because I have a lot of family members who live in Trinidad and Tobago.

St Johnstone may be able to capitalise on Celtic's ropey form at home this season, says Rory Loy on BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

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Kerr Smith has left St Johnstone to re-join parent club Aston Villa after suffering an injury.

The 19-year-old made just three appearances for the Perth side after joining from the Premier League outfit in January.

Manager Craig Levein said: "It is unfortunate the way things have worked out for Kerr but I would like to personally thank him for his efforts during his time on loan at the club.

"I wish him well for the future back at Aston Villa."

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• Celtic are unbeaten in their last 28 games against St. Johnstone across all competitions since a 2-1 away defeat in May 2016 (W24 D4); the Bhoys are only on a longer ongoing unbeaten streak against Dundee (42) and Motherwell (31) amongst current top-flight opponents.

• St. Johnstone secured a 0-0 away draw against Celtic in the Scottish Premiership earlier this season; only once before have they avoided defeat twice at Celtic Park in the same league campaign, doing so in 2017-18 (1-1, 0-0).

• Celtic lost their most recent league game 2-0 away to Heart of Midlothian, and could now lose back-to-back games on two separate occasions in the same Scottish Premiership season for the first time since 2006-07 under Gordon Strachan, having also lost two in a row in December.

• St. Johnstone have won two of their last four away league games (L2), this after failing to win any of their opening 10 Scottish Premiership games on the road this season (D4 L6).

• Since his Scottish Premiership debut last month, Adam Idah is the only Celtic player to net more than one league goal, scoring five times at an average of a goal every 77 minutes.

St Johnstone have taken four points from their last two league outings, but face a sterner test on Saturday as they travel to Celtic Park.

Who would you like to see start in Glasgow?

Choose your St Johnstone XI here.

St Johnstone boss Craig Levein says there will be no contract negotiations until it is known which league Saints will be in next season. (Courier, external - subscription required)

Read the rest of Wednesday's Scottish gossip.

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Hands up if you remember the time Stevie May celebrated a goal by pretending to cut his signature locks off?

Well, if you do, that memory turns 10 years old today. Time flies!

The long-haired striker scored what turned out to be the winning goal at Tannadice on 12 March 2014, before proceeding to grab an imaginary razor and imitate the sheering of his flowing curls.

As Saints fans well know, it wouldn't be the last meeting between the two clubs that year, as the Perth club went on to win their first Scottish Cup at the expensive of United at Celtic Park.

St Johnstone could have forward Diallang Jaiyesimi back from injury before the Scottish Premiership split. (Courier - subscription required), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish Gossip

St Johnstone winger Drey Wright could return from injury before the Scottish Premiership split. (Courier - subscription required), external

Read Monday's Scottish Gossip

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Even though they're clear of the bottom two as things stand, it's been a pretty poor season in front of goal for St Johnstone.

Their 20 goals scored is the joint-lowest in the league, alongside bottom of the table Livingston, and is lower than their expected goals of 24.9.

Only Livi have had fewer shots on target than the Saints - 78 to 71 - with Craig Levein's side 11 behind Ross County.

The Perth side have had the fewest touches in the opposition box out of all 12 Premiership teams with 449, which shows how they struggle to create chances and regularly get into dangerous areas.

Their impressive defensive record is largely been what St Johnstone have relied on this season - only the league's top five clubs have conceded fewer goals than the Saints - but an upturn in their attacking numbers could see them push up the table before this season's end.

St Johnstone attacker Diallang Jaiyesimi faces weeks out with a knee injury. (Courier - subscription required), external

Read Thursday's Scottish Gossip

St Johnstone defender Ryan McGowan, who will be 35 in the summer, has dismissed the prospect of retirement anytime soon. (The Courier)

Read the rest of Wednesday's gossip.

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Speaking to the Scottish Football Podcast, St Johnstone defender Ryan McGowan apologised to fans who watched their draw with Livingston.

"Anybody that was at that game knows that it was a horrible game," McGowan said. "It wasn't a classic at all.

"From our point of view, we could have played better. We're delighted to get the point, marry that in with the winner against Aberdeen, on Wednesday and it's probably not a bad four points from six that we could have got.

"At the same time, being at home and against Livingston, we were looking for those three points. But the way that the game played out, we'll take the point and move on to the next week."

The Saints snatched a point at the death thanks to Nicky Clark's header, although the game was a pretty stodgy, agricultural affair.

"Anybody that was at that game would say that was one of the worst football games ever and I would like to apologise to any fan that paid money to come to that game, because it was not a game of great quality.

"I saw a thing on Twitter [sic] today. I think the ball was only in play for 35 minutes which, even then, I still thought that was too much.

"There was about six or seven head knocks. Liam Gordon went off. He's got a big fat eye. That sums up the game. It was a lot of collisions, injuries, and it was just not an enjoyable game at all."

• Listen to the full episode here.

Stevie May says St Johnstone manager Craig Levein was willing to allow him to leave during January after "a couple of people made contact" and, while fellow striker Chris Kane chose to join Dunfermline Athletic on loan, the 31-year-old decided to stay and fight for his place. (The Courier), external

Read Monday's Scottish Gossip in full here.

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Livingston blundered by not doing better to stop Nicky Clark, says James McFadden.

Most will likely be trying to put this game to the back of their mind, but St Johnstone striker Nicky Clark has stressed the 1-1 draw with Livingston could prove to be pivotal in their battle for Premiership survival.

Chances for Clark, and Saints altogether, were seldom, until the veteran forward popped up to nod home Graham Carey's cross in the 87th minute.

"It might turn out to be a huge point for us in the long run," Clark told SaintsTV.

"Looking back on the game, first-half we weren't really at it as well as we were during the week.

"It wasn't a great game, I don't think, for anyone watching it, a bit scrappy, but this could prove huge".

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Watch the best of the action as St Johnstone and Livingston share the points in Perth. (Available to UK users only)

We asked for your thoughts after St Johnstone shared the spoils with Livingston at McDiarmid Park

Here's a taste of what you had to say:

Ian: That was a match to make your eyes bleed. Livi will be disappointed to lose a late goal, given how bad Saints were all afternoon. 18 minutes of added time tells you how much time Livi tried to waste though. No cohesion in the Saints team and too many attempts to play football in front of our own box instead of theirs. Much improvement needed.

Avi: A disappointing performance but a good point in the end. Saints needed to be bigger and better than a horrendous Livingston but got dragged into one of the worst spectacles I can recall for some time. The time wasting and general game management from Livingston made this game a brutal watch.

Ryan: A good point in the end. Saints could never play due to the stop-start nature of this game. Livingston’s poor tactics worked perfectly to disrupt and kill off any chances against them.