St Johnstone

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Lewis Neilson has declared himself ready to make his mark in the top flight following his St Johnstone debut.

The 21-year-old defender started Monday's 2-1 defeat to Aberdeen after signing on loan from Hearts.

The former Dundee United defender made 43 appearances on loan with Partick Thistle last season and now aims to utilise that experience at a higher level.

"The idea with the loan was I needed to make a step up," said Neilson.

"I didn't want to go back on loan to the Championship. So I'm ready to make my mark in the Premiership this season.

"I came here to play. That's my idea. I want to play as many games as possible, so hopefully I've shown him enough to stay in the team and I'll just keep playing.

"I started the game at right-back, which I'm not too familiar with, but obviously if I'm on the pitch, I'm happy. I'll play wherever I get told to."

Hearts manager Steven Naismith gave Neilson words of encouragement before his move to Perth.

"He said it was a really good pre-season," added Neilson.

“He was really impressed with me and it was a difficult choice to send me on loan and he just felt at the age I'm at, I need to be playing week in, week out and I probably wasn't going to be doing that quite yet at Hearts.

"So to get a Premiership loan was going to be the best option."

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St Johnstone have confirmed Sam McClelland will be out for "several months" after rupturing his Achilles.

The 22-year-old defender was taken off on a stretcher in the second half of his side's Premiership opener against Aberdeen on Monday.

The Northern Ireland international joined the Perth club from Barrow in 2023 and spent the second half of last season on loan at Dundee United.

McClelland played all four of St Johnstone's League Cup group games this term and appeared to be a major part of Craig Levein's defensive plans.

"Sam had started the season well for us and for this to now happen is terribly unfair," Levein said.

"Sam has the support of everyone at the club and we all wish him a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back on the pitch."

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Geoff Brown was bestowed with an array of honours, including the renaming of the Main Stand at McDiarmid Park in his name, before the Saints' Premiership fixture versus Aberdeen on Monday.

The 'Geoff Brown Stand' was revealed during the tributes, while presentations from Webb and SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster rounded out the fitting on-pitch, pre-match ceremony.

Brown, whose family has had a majority shareholding in the Perth club for almost four decades, makes way for incoming American owner Adam Webb.

"A fantastic character," Bell recalls on Brown. "He's been so loyal to St Johnstone for so long.

"It was nice nice to see the fans and everyone giving him a real good send off. He's been a massive part of the club, so it's a new period for them.

On Webb, Bell added: "It will be interesting to see how the new owner wants to take the club on and take the club forward. It's all change up in Perth."

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New St Johnstone owner Adam Webb insists he is going to lean on Geoff Brown's considerable experience.

"He's not a big talker but when he does say something you should listen," said Webb of his predecessor.

"At some clubs, life president is an honorary role, here it’s a working commitment. He has agreed to take my calls and to help me work through all the difficult issues that we have ahead."

Webb told BBC Scotland, he feels like he’s "stepping into something magical" at St Johnstone.

"I’ve only been here a few months and already I feel like I bleed Saints’ blue," he said.

And what might those issues be?

Webb is weighing up the best approach to hosting Celtic and Rangers and the American is horrified by regulations prohibiting the sale of alcohol at games.

"The Old Firm sort of take over and there is some colourful conduct, shall we say, from some of those fans.

"It really alienates our home fans and so they tend to avoid the game. It’s a thorny issue. Do we want to sell tickets to these clubs or do we want our fans to feel comfortable."

He also calls the no booze rules “unacceptable”, saying: "We have to change those. Tonight we play Aberdeen and there’s no reason why our fans and their fans shouldn’t be able to have a beer."

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Summer arrivals at McDiarmid Park have not improved St Johnstone enough to keep them out of another relegation scrap, says former Saints goalkeeper Cammy Bell.

The Perth club were beaten 2-1 at home in their opening Scottish Premiership fixture by Aberdeen on Monday and were dominated by their visitors for large spells, particularly in the first half.

"There was patches in the game they did okay," Bell told BBC's Scottish Football Podcast. "I wouldn't say it was an inspiring performance from my point of view.

"It was probably where I expect St Johnstone to be at this moment in time. I’ve tipped them to probably be towards the bottom of the table."

That's even with a fresh-looking defence and goalkeeper, with last season's stalwarts Dimitar Mitov, Ryan McGowan, Liam Gordon and Andy Considine all moving on.

"They've just survived over the last few years and I don't see really any indication from the signings that have come in so far that it's going to be any different this season," Bell added.

"Probably Craig Levein knows that he's in a dogfight from day one.

"They were competitive against Aberdeen, they didn't let them blow them away, but I think if Aberdeen were a little bit more ruthless, it could have been a completely different score and they could have been out of sight.

"They hung in there, they showed a little bit of fighting spirit and Craig's got to hang on to any positives."

We asked you for your thoughts following St Johnstone's matchday one defeat to Aberdeen on Monday night.

Here's what you had to say:

Ally: Saints were never really in the game until Levein’s master stroke, a double substitution with five minutes of the 90 left. Trailing by two goals, why wait until so late in the game to make the changes? He said the team showed dynamism, shame he doesn’t.

Cameron: Encouraging. Few rough diamonds in the team that given time could do a very good job for us. Midfield too open at times but Saints fought back well and the depth of the squad looks far better than previous seasons.

Maybe needing a better CM to control the game more, but plenty positives to take from the game.

Ewan: A performance that appeared tired and definitely lacked any real ability to break down defences effectively. After a rollercoaster few weeks with new ownership and a Monday night with the small screen cameras, there was a real buzz about the support going into this fixture. But as was the case last season, we don’t start to play until we’re behind.

St Johnstone defender Sam McClelland, 22, sustained a ruptured Achilles in Monday's 2-1 home loss to Aberdeen. (Courier - subscription), external

Retired former St Johnstone defender Andy Considine has returned to Aberdeen to work at the club's youth academy. (Press and Journal - subscription), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish gossip

Watch highlights as Aberdeen open their Scottish Premiership campaign with a 2-1 victory over St Johnstone (UK only).

Well St Johnstone fans, what did you make of that?

How was the send off to Geoff Brown? And what about the actual match?

Did anyone impress you? Did you think you could snatch a point at the end?

Let us know your thoughts here., external

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland

It has been 233 long days since the Saints won a league match in Perth.

16 December 2023 was the date. A 1-0 win over Hibs was the scoreline. Graham Carey the goalscorer.

Many have named St Johnstone as relegation candidates. We are a fair distance out but if you can’t win at home, you are going to be in real trouble.

Traditionally, the Saints’ problem has been goalscoring but they looked far better in attack than defence this evening, worryingly.

10 league games at home without a win will keep Craig Levein up at night. A new regime above him won't help that insomnia, either. But if there's a manager who will back himself to get out of a corner, it's the old Scotland boss.

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St Johnstone manager Craig Levein told BBC Scotland he feels his side are "a bit unfortunate not to get anything from the match".

"I thought in spells we played really well. Aberdeen managed to get on top after the first quarter of the match and we struggled a little bit. But we changed the shape and we managed to get back into it in the second half and I thought we played well.

"It's the worst way to lose.

"They got the better of the midfield battle, and we struggled to get that back but the change of shape worked.

"I thought it was competitive, we got loads of crosses into the box and we had some really good chances. We got one, but we just couldn't get the other."

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Benjamin Kimpioka. A genuine outball for St Johnstone, he has the raw materials to be a good striker at this level but needs to polish the edges. See also: Adama Sidibeh.

Matt Smith had a few lovely touches, while Makenzie Kirk made a brilliant impact when he was introduced late on. Andre Raymond also had a few impressive moments defensively.

St Johnstone: Rae, Neilson, Cameron, McClelland, Wright, MacPherson, Essel, M Smith, Raymond, Kimpioka, Sidibeh.

Substitutes: Sinclair, Sanders, Clark, Carey, C Smith, Sprangler, McPake, Kirk, Franczak.

Aberdeen: Mitov, Devlin, Molloy, Rubezic, MacKenzie, McGrath, Heltne Nilsen, Shinnie, Morris, Miovski, Sokler.

Substitutes: Doohan, Jensen, Gueye, McGarry, Besuijen, Milne, Duncan, Ambrose, Stewart.

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Kyle Cameron aims to provide a "fresh outlook" as St Johnstone captain after admitting he was surprised to be handed the armband following his loan arrival from Notts County this summer.

The defender, 27, will lead Saints out on his Premiership debut when Craig Levein's side host Aberdeen on Monday night.

"It [the captaincy] was something the manager sort of sprung on me when I turned up here on the Friday before the Arbroath game," he said.

"So it was a welcome surprise and a nice pat on the back and a bit of confidence shown from the management team, which I appreciate.

"Of course it's a challenge, and it can always be difficult because you have a lot of senior lads in there who may not take it rather well, but everyone was pretty spot-on with me and helped me out when I've needed some guidance.

"It's just something I'm really looking forward to and hopefully I can give a bit of a fresh outlook and try to lead without having the last couple of seasons of doom and gloom that's been around. We can start with a fresh mentality and hopefully I can push that.

"I hope I can bring a positive mindset and try and help build a winning mentality within the squad."

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St Johnstone will be without Nicky Clark (calf) and Andre Raymond (hamstring) while Uche Ikpeazu (knee) faces longer out. Aaron Essel is free from suspension.

Aberdeen are without midfielders Leighton Clarkson (shoulder) and Dante Polvara (hamstring), while striker Duk is unavailable after failing to report back for pre-season training on time.

Bojan Miovski will be in the squad despite intense speculation about his future.

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While every one of our reporters predicted Celtic to win the league, opinion was split on who would go down. However, most unfortunately picked the Saints.

Tyrone Smith, our man in the north-east:

They survived by the skin of their Premiership teeth last time round and could well be sucked in to the dogfight at the bottom once again.

Arguably the performances of now Aberdeen keeper, Dimitar Mitov, kept Saints up last term and his departure, as well as the exits of key players like Liam Gordon and Dan Phillips, suggest it could be an uphill struggle for the men from Perth.

Alasdair Lamont, one of the men behind the commentary mic:

Never a pleasant category to predict but St Johnstone’s recent travails suggest it could be another tough season for them.

Craig Levein’s experience and nous may mean they can once again successfully navigate the challenge of staying in the division, but I have my doubts.

Tom English, always paying attention and ready to comment:

Look highly vulnerable again. Might not escape this time.

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St Johnstone will be without two key players for their Premiership opener against Aberdeen, according to boss Craig Levein.

Striker Nicky Clark and summer signing Andre Raymond will miss out on Sunday's league starter, although there was good news about former Hearts man Uche Ikpeazu's fitness.

“I don’t think he’d be ready,” Levein said of Clark's fitness, despite the 33-year-old returning to the training pitch. “He might be able to join us in training in another two or three days from now, but I don’t think he’d be ready.”

On Trinidad and Tobago international Raymond, Levein added: “He hadn’t done an awful lot of work over the summer, and he'd been playing in the national team and took time off and then when we brought him here, so he wasn’t up to the same speed as the rest of the group."

“Unfortunately he’s just got a little bit of a problem with his hamstring. Nothing too serious, but I don’t know if he’ll make Monday.”

The Perth side are hopeful for another boost in the coming weeks with Ikpeazu set to make his return following surgery.

“Uche [Ikpeazu] had an op on his knee. He will probably be the end of August, I think, round about that time before he’s back, so we’ll get a little bit of a boost in the next month to six weeks.”

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• St. Johnstone last faced Aberdeen on matchday one of a league season in 2016-17, drawing 0-0.

• Aberdeen have only lost one of their last 14 league trips to St. Johnstone (W8 D5), going down 1-0 in May 2022.

• St. Johnstone are winless on matchday one in each of the previous six league seasons (D2 L4) since a 2-1 win over Kilmarnock in 2017-18.

• When opening their league season away from home, Aberdeen have only won one of their last nine such games (D4 L4), beating Dundee United 1-0 in 2015-16.

• Since the Scottish Premiership began in 2013, this will be just the second matchday-one fixture played on a Monday, after Ross County’s 1-0 win over Motherwell in 2020-21.