St Johnstone

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Dundee United: Walton, Adegboyega, Graham, Gallagher, Stephenson, Babunski, Sibbald, Holt, Ferry, Trapanovski, Van der Sande.

Substitutes: Richards, Moult, Odada, Middleton, Fotheringham, Docherty, Thomson, Cleall-Harding, Ubochioma.

St Johnstone: Rae, Neilson, Sanders, Cameron, Wright, Essel, M Smith, Carey, Raymond, Kimpioka, Sidibeh.

Substitutes: Sinclair, MacPherson, Clark, C Smith, Sprangler, McPake, Kirk, Franczak, Keltjens.

Dundee United defender Vicko Sevelj returns from suspension but has had a tight hamstring and will be assessed. Ryan Strain is out long term with a hamstring problem.

St Johnstone could welcome back David Keltjens but Sam McClelland is out long-term with an Achilles injury and Uche Ikpeazu (knee) is still out.

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Lewis Neilson has challenged himself to become an established Premiership player during his loan spell with St Johnstone.

The 21-year-old joined Hearts from Dundee United two years ago and made 16 appearances in his first season at Tynecastle before turning out 43 times for Partick Thistle on loan last season in the Championship.

The defender has started all three games since joining Craig Levein's side and hopes to keep his place to prove he can compete in the top-flight.

"I felt going into pre-season I was ready to play for Hearts but just the size of the squad at the minute – they've got a vast amount of players of really good quality – so just to continue to get the number of games I need, it was better to come to St Johnstone, where I can hopefully play every week," he said.

"Hopefully I can play as many games as I can here and make my mark in the Premiership, and hopefully that will be enough to go and cement a spot at Hearts next season.

"I definitely feel season on season I’ve become a better player.

"Going into Hearts two years ago, I was maybe too young to make a mark and keep my spot in the team but I got some great experiences, like European games, which were massive for me.

"Then I had a really good loan spell at Thistle, where I played 43 games. Especially as a centre-half, it's hard to replicate game-like situations in training so I need to be playing games, like I got last year, and hopefully it looks like I’m going to be getting this year as well."

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The Scottish Premiership match between Ross County and St Johnstone scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 4 December will now take place on Saturday, 21 September, the SPFL have announced.

The clash has been moved at the request of both clubs, and will kick off at 15:00 BST.

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• Dundee United are winless in their last seven Scottish Premiership home games against St. Johnstone (D2 L5), losing their last three in a row.

• St. Johnstone have only won one of their last 13 away games against newly promoted opponents in the Scottish Premiership (D7 L5), a 1-0 win at Kilmarnock in May 2023. They drew both of their trips to Dundee United the last season in which the Tangerines were a promoted side (2020-21).

• Dundee United have drawn their opening two Scottish Premiership fixtures this season (2-2 v Dundee, 1-1 v Ross County) – the last team to draw their opening three matches of a top-flight campaign were rivals Dundee in 2014-15, who were also a newly promoted side (Ross County could also do so this weekend).

• St. Johnstone have won their last two Scottish Premiership away games and will be aiming to win three in a row on the road in the competition for the first time since December 2018 under Tommy Wright (6 in a row).

• This will be St. Johnstone manager Craig Levein’s first top-flight match against former club Dundee United since a 1-1 draw with Hearts in October 2004. Levein has lost just one of his last eight such meetings with the Tangerines (W6 D1 – all with Hearts), a 1-2 defeat in November 2003.

• All 12 Premiership sides provided a total of 15,101 minutes to Scottish players aged under 21 in the 2023-24 season.

• Those minutes average out to just 1,258 per club, which is the equivalent of only 14 full 90-minute matches.

• Six teams failed to reach a total above 700 minutes.

• Celtic and Rangers were the worst offenders in the division, with Celtic managing just 89 minutes all in, while Rangers' total was even lower at only 26.

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St Johnstone striker Stevie May has joined Livingston on loan until the end of the campaign.

The 31-year-old has featured only once for the Perth side this season, as a substitute in the Premier Sports Cup tie away to Brechin City in July.

Last term, he scored just once, having hit goals 10 in the previous campaign.

May, capped once for Scotland in 2014, won two Scottish Cups and the League Cup over two spells with St Johnstone.

A lack of first-team action given to youngsters in the Premiership backs up the Scottish FA's assertion that Scotland is not bringing through enough emerging talent.

Just three of the 12 top-flight teams are able to say they provided over 2,000 minutes to Scots aged under 21 across last season's pre-split fixtures.

Dundee sit top of the 2023-24 table with 3,538, but a large chunk of that was clocked up by the one player - Lyall Cameron.

The same applies to the three next best clubs on the chart, Aberdeen (Connor Barron), Kilmarnock (David Watson) and Motherwell (Lennon Miller).

At the bottom of the table are both Old Firm clubs, with the pair posting concerning figures - Celtic just 89 minutes and Rangers only 26.

The report uses Hungary's top flight - a 12-team league - as a direct comparison. It shows Honved provided 6,544 minutes to Hungarian under-21 players, PAFC reached more than 5,000 and two more clubs achieved over 3,000.

Click here to read more on how Scottish football is failing young players.

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Clubs in Scotland are failing to bring through enough young players, a report, external by the Scottish FA has said.

The governing body says Scottish football is "significantly underachieving its potential" in youth development compared to countries of a similar size.

Using a range of data to compare leagues across Europe, it shows players under the age of 21 in Scotland are playing fewer minutes in the top-flight than countries such as Denmark, Norway, and Croatia.

Meanwhile, game time for young Scottish players in major European club competitions ranks below countries with smaller populations and fewer resources, such as Montenegro and North Macedonia.

It also stresses clubs are missing an opportunity to reduce wage costs and increase transfer revenue by developing their own players.

The report was commissioned by the SFA's professional game board at the end of 2023, and a working party comprised of SPFL and SFA representatives will now consider its findings.

Read the full story

Former striker Lee Miller, who turned out for Dundee United, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock among others, recounts his experiences of being on the move on transfer deadline day during his playing career.

Listen and subscribe to the Scottish football podcast on BBC Sounds

St Johnstone forward Stevie May, 31, is expected to join Livingston. (Courier - subscription), external

Read Wednesday's Scottish gossip

Sam Miller
Fan writer

On the field things still look to be going in the right direction. A team full of energy and raw talent will make it an exciting season.

Too often when playing either of the Old Firm, we've set up to not concede.

So seeing two hungry strikers start the League Cup last-16 tie on Saturday was certainly a sign of intent for the season.

As always with Scottish football, the referee became the centre of attention.

And although it appears the correct decision was eventually made at the opening goal, the overly-complicated VAR rules and procedures sucked the joy out the spectacle.

In the bin with them I say and let's get back to proper refereeing howlers, conspiracy theories and "Was it?"/"Was it not?" pub discussions. Like the good ol' days.

Sam Miller can be found at Dogger Saints podcast, external

The Scottish FA has informed St Johnstone that referee Matthew MacDermid did not blow for a foul before Rangers striker Cyriel Dessers scored the opening goal during Saturday's Premier Sports Cup match at Hampden Park. (The Herald), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish Gossip in full here.

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"I still don’t get VAR," said St Johnstone's Matt Smith after the technology went against his side in their 2-0 League Cup defeat by Rangers.

The opening goal from Cyriel Dessers was initially ruled out for a foul, only for referee Matthew MacDermid to reverse his decision after being asked to look at the incident on the pitchside monitor.

St Johnstone thought play had been stopped but the Scottish FA has indicated McDermid blew his whistle after Dessers put the ball in the net.

Smith was confused, saying: "I thought I did (hear the whistle before the goal) and obviously the gesture was that he was about to give a foul.

"The referee said (to captain Kyle Cameron) that he didn’t blow his whistle, so I don’t really know where we can go from that.

"The actual decision that they come to, is it a clear and obvious (mistake)?

"I still don’t get VAR. We have meetings before a season talking about decisions that are going to be made better and more realistic to a game.

"As a referee, you surely want to communicate with players for a reason, to explain. It’s just frustrating that there’s no communication.

"You can’t really say too much as I tried to speak to him and was booked. That’s the situation we’re in at the minute."

St Johnstone have asked for clarity on Rangers' controversial opening goal on Saturday and the audio file will now be reviewed by the Scottish FA in a bid to piece together a proper timeline of events. (Scottish Sun), external

St Johnstone defender Matt Smith says he and his team-mates heard two whistles from referee Matthew MacDermid at Hampden - before and after Cyriel Dessers found the net for Rangers. (Daily Record), external

Read the rest of Monday's Scottish gossip.

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Craig Levein believes St Johnstone took a “step up” in performance against Rangers despite defeat and exiting the Premier Sports Cup.

The Saints boss was far from pleased with Cyriel Dessers’ opening goal for the hosts but said he didn't speak to the referee Matthew McDermid afterwards because, "what’s the point?," he addded.

"I’ve been there a hundred times and I end up getting fined and then doubling my fine and then doubling it again."

After moving on from that incident, Levein's attention quickly turned to the "really good things" his side displayed at Hampden.

“I was pleased with the way they played, with a lot of the things that they did in the game," he said. "I think it’s a step up even from last week against Kilmarnock.

“I thought we worked really, really hard, tried to pressurise Rangers all over the pitch, particularly in the back line.

“Unfortunately, we missed some good chances. But I’d like to think that we can take some confidence, a lot of confidence from this performance because I didn’t feel we were ever out of the match – maybe the last five minutes.

“I put as many strikers on the field as I could and hoped for the best, but there were a lot of really good things and we can have a look at those when we get back to work in the next few days.”

We asked you for your thoughts after St Johnstone's League Cup exit to Rangers.

The players and manager clearly disagreed with the decision to award the opening goal, and it seems you do too.

Here's what you had to say:

Kevin: I saw the referee turn and point up the field for a foul (for Saints). Also certain I heard a whistle, so began to sit down, ignoring the Rangers striker's continued run. Still wasn't bothered after the 'goal' because the referee clearly gave the foul again. To then give a goal ruined the rest of the game for me, and clearly affected our players...

Roy: We played okay against an extremely poor Rangers side, helped by an odd refereeing decision. Hope we sign an experienced' keeper before the window shuts or give Ross Sinclair a run in the side - Rae is a reasonably able shot-stopper but his handling is too inconsistent at this level.

Gordon: Thought Saints did well, although we rode our luck a bit at times but the first goal is a refereeing shambles. Poor poor officiating yet again. Second goal matters not as we're chasing the game by then. Happy with my team, not happy with the refereeing team.

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St Johnstone manager Craig Levein: "It was chaos for a while, didn't know exactly what had happened.

"I thought it was a free-kick to us and had that confirmed by one of the officials so I didn’t pay much attention for two or three minutes until I realised something was going on and didn't realise VAR was involved until a minute after that.

"I couldn't fathom what they would be looking at and I’ve watched it myself and I think Jack [Sanders] gets fouled, he’s the one that ends up on the ground.

"I don't think the goal should have stood, simple as that. He did give the decisions, he did, he put his hand up to indicate it was a foul for us, so he gave the decision, what other way can you read that?

"Some of them are saying they thought they heard the whistle but my point is this, if he indicates it’s a free-kick for us, which he did, and everyone looks at him and stops, for me that's a mistake on his part.

"I dont know what excuse they're going to come up with, I’d love them to just come out and hold their hands up and say, 'I’m really sorry we got it wrong'. I don't know why it went to VAR, I wish someone could tell me."

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The holders were on top for most of the match at Hampden but struggled to make the breakthrough until Rabbi Matondo played in Dessers, who tangled with defender Jack Sanders.

Referee Matthew MacDermid seemed to give that as a foul before Dessers danced into the box and produced a fine finish but the goal was ruled out until VAR intervened.

St Johnstone were left furious when the strike was ultimately awarded as they clearly felt play had been stopped by the referee.

Let us know your thoughts on the game here., external

Martin Dowden
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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St Johnstone lived dangerously at times but offered enough to suggest they will trouble sides this season.

They will undoubtedly feel very hard done by given what happened at the goal and can point to two or three excellent chances.

A valiant effort that came up short.