St Johnstone

Were you at the match in Perth or following along from home?

Either way, we want your thoughts. Have your say here.

Slim pickings across both teams for a standout individual but Costelloe's first-half performance was amongst the few positives for Steven MacLean to take solace in.

A powerful, pacey, and crucially clinical showing from the young striker.

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Tyrone Smith, BBC Sport Scotland at McDiarmid Park

This draw will feel like a defeat for St Johnstone as up until the Livingston equaliser they were comfortable and looked to be heading for that elusive first league win of the season.

But life can be cruel when you are languishing at the wrong end of the table, and so it proved again today.

That is now seven games without a victory so far and prior to this game, Steven MacLean spoke about trying to find that winning formula. Well he knows that is something he must discover, and soon, or both he and his team will find themselves in real bother.

St Johnstone boss Steven MacLean makes four changes to the side that lost 2-0 away to Hibs last time out.

James Brown, Sam McClelland, Cammy MacPherson, and Stevie May all drop out of the starting lineup to be replaced by Luke Jephcott, Liam Gordon, Dara Costelloe, and Max Kucheriavyi are all handed a start.

• Follow all of the action this afternoon here

St Johnstone: Mitov, Wright, Gordon, Considine, Robinson, Carey, Sprangler, Phillips, Costelloe, Kucheriavyi, Jephcott

Substitutes: Richards, Gallacher, May, MacPherson, Olufunwa, McClelland, Smith, Turner-Cooke, Franczak

Livingston: George, Parkes, Obileye, Anderson, Brandon, Holt, Nouble, Sangare, Shinnie, Kelly, Penrice

Substitutes: Hamilton, Pittman, Kelly, MacKay, Bradley, De Lucas, Lloyd, Guthrie, Lawal

St Johnstone hope Chris Kane and Liam Gordon will shake off knocks while DJ Jaiyesimi is making good progress following a hamstring injury but will not make the game.

Nicky Clark (ankle), Ali Crawford (calf), Ross Sinclair (broken arm) and Callum Booth (back) all remain sidelined.

Livingston boss David Martindale will assess a few bumps and bruises after the midweek defeat at Ibrox. Livi hope to have Mikey Devlin back from injury, while Michael Nottingham (Achilles) and Cristian Montano (calf) are building up their fitness.

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Cammy MacPherson hopes St Johnstone can start a momentum-building run by finally getting their first win of the season on Saturday.

The Perth side, three points adrift at the bottom with two points from a possible 18, welcome Livingston to McDiarmid Park.

“It's not been a good start to the season at all and the only way to get through it is to keep believing and have that confidence that we can turn it around,” said midfielder MacPherson.

“We're going out looking to win the game, we're disappointed with the form so far in the league but we need to start putting that right if we want to get up the table.

“The boys work hard in training but it’s just not been good enough and we need to take responsibly for it and keep working harder.

“You've probably seen it before in teams where they just need that one win and then they could maybe go on a run, so that's what we're hoping happens on Saturday.

“It would be massive to get the first three points on the board and then you're thinking hopefully that can be a momentum builder going forward.”

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Six games in and it's already looking bleak for St Johnstone with just two points and two goals scored. The Perth side are three points adrift at the foot of the table and need to get some wins to avoid becoming detached.

Manager Steven MacLean also faces a tricky trip to Aberdeen before the next international break, emphasising the need to take something this weekend against Livingston.

Counterpart David Martindale is not under nearly the same amount of pressure but Livi are licking their wounds after losing heavily to both 10-man Celtic last Saturday and Rangers in the cup.

Livingston have built a reputation of doing enough to steer clear of danger by picking up points in fixtures just like this. But defeat would mean three losses inside eight days for Martindale's team.

Read all the weekend's Premiership picks

Former St Johnstone defender Allan Preston says the team's woes in front of goal are a real concern.

And he believes they have to take a positive result from Saturday's game against Livingston to avoid getting cut adrift at the bottom of the Scottish Premiership.

The winless Perth outfit have taken just two points from their first six league games and have scored just twice while conceding 10.

"They have always been built on a defensive solidity, where they would win games 1-0, defend really well, nick a goal, but that doesn't seem to be the case any more," Preston said, speaking on the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"The problem, as Steven MacLean said, is goalscoring. They have got four strikers in Jephcott, May, Kane and Clark, and I look at them and don't think any of them are going to get 10 goals.

"They need someone to come in and score goals for them, whether that's a midfielder, or whoever it is, someone in that team needs to score a goal and give them something to defend and hang on to.

"Livingston will go there knowing that they can open up a seven-point gap to St Johnstone and even this early in the season that's a big gap to claw back. MacLean needs to get a result."

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The Scottish Premiership game between Rangers and St Johnstone on 4 November has been postponed because the Ibrox side will be playing in the Viaplay Cup semis that weekend.

A new date for the league match in Govan will be confirmed by the SPFL "in due course".

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• No team has faced more shots (103), more shots on target (40) or had more expected goals against (12.3) than St Johnstone in the Scottish Premiership this season, while only Ross County and Livingston (both 11) have conceded more goals than the Perth side's 10.

• Livingston have recorded four draws from their last eight top-flight matches, which is as many as they had in their previous 21.

• St Johnstone are yet to win in the league this season (P6 D2 L4); the last time they failed to win any of their first seven matches in a top-flight season was in 2019-20 when they failed to win their first nine (D4 L5).

• Livingston’s last six league visits to St Johnstone have seen them alternate between winning (3 times) and not winning (D1 L2), losing most recently 2-0 in May last season as Saints ended a three-game losing run in this fixture.

Sven Sprangler sets St Johnstone standards on and off pitch, says manager Steven MacLean after the Austrian midfielder made his debut last weekend. (Courier)

Read the rest of Thursday's Scottish gossip.

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Bottom club St Johnstone welcome Livingston to McDiarmid Park on Saturday.

Can Steven MacLean's men savour that winning feeling for the first time this season?

Choose your men to get the job done here here.

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Tyrone Smith, BBC Sport Scotland

Steven MacLean has warned the Scottish FA to act fast or risk losing exciting St Johnstone prospect Fran Franczak to Poland.

Midfielder Franczak - aged 16 years and 38 days - became the Perth club's youngest ever player when he made his debut during the second half of last weekend's defeat at Hibs.

"I think the academy has been great for the football club if you look at the names that have come through over the last few years and Fran is no different," said Saints manager MacLean.

"If he could have played when he was 15 he would have played in the League Cup, so that is how much we think of him. We are really excited about him and we just to manage him properly.

"All clubs want to have their homegrown players coming through. Scotland had better be careful because he has a Polish passport as well, so they had better try and tie him up as soon as possible or I think Poland will be coming."

St Johnstone manager Steven MacLean says "blood soon wipes off" as he demands leaders across the pitch against Livingston to kick-start their season. (The Courier)

Read the rest of Wednesday's gossip.

St Johnstone manager Steven MacLean says his side must start winning games soon, or risk becoming detached at the foot of the Premiership.

Saints are currently three points adrift at the bottom of the table, having taken just two points from their opening six league games.

MacLean knows the winless run can't continue and is hoping they can finally get a victory on the board at home to Livingston on Saturday.

"We have not started the season well, we know that," he said. "I think every game that you tick off and you don’t [win], it becomes harder and harder, so you need to try and get those three points as soon as you can and then try and get on a little run and that is what we are looking to do.

"There is no hiding from that we are bottom of the league, we are there for a reason so we need to be better, we play Livingston, we beat Livingston at the weekend we go a point behind them , everything is still really close but you can soon become detached so we need to start winning games soon.

"We are just looking at one game at a time , I think Livingston is a huge game and one we want to win and we need to go and win. I think for the young group we have got, once we get that win , hopefully we will just kick on and hopefully we can move up that league.’

‘We need to start getting results. I do believe in the group, I think we are going to get there , lets just hope it is this weekend."

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St Johnstone manager Steven MacLean has been speaking to the media ahead of Saturday's Scottish Premiership clash with Livingston.

Here are the key points from his press conference:

• On the magnitude of this weekend’s match, MacLean said “I don’t need to tell [the players] it is a massive game”.

• Despite the start to the season he says he has full belief in the group, and says he believes once they get a win, hopefully they will really kick on.

• On being bottom of the table and without a win in the league so far he says: “There is no hiding from that we are bottom of the league, we are there for a reason so we need to be better."

• And he admits they need to get that first win of the league season as soon as possible “I think every game that you don’t [win] it becomes harder and harder.”

• He is expecting a tough game against a Livingston team who play more football than they are given credit for.

• Team news: Both Chris Kane and Liam Gordon are "touch and go" for the game.

• On 16-year-old Fran Franczak becoming St Johnstone’s youngest ever player: “We are really excited about him. Scotland had better be careful because he has got a Polish passport as well so they had better try and tie him up as soon as possible, or I think Poland will be coming.”

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St Johnstone stopper Dimitar Mitov has been called up to the Bulgaria national team for their upcoming internationals against Lithuania and Albania.

The 26-year-old has impressed since arriving at the club from Cambridge United in the summer, and made his Bulgaria debut in September.

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We asked for your thoughts as St Johnstone's wait for a first league win goes on.

Jason: I think the game wasn't not good if we lose to Livingston on the 30th. I want to see the manager get the sack and get a better manager.

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St Johnstone remain bottom of the Scottish Premiership after defeat at Easter Road.

What did fans make of the performance?

Have your say here.

St Johnstone boss Steven MacLean told BBC Scotland: "I thought we were good in the first half then we lose a poor goal, second phase from a set play.

"The reaction was good and, at the start of second half, we were the team on top. Again, we lose a poor second goal.

"It's been the story of the season so far. We need to get better at taking our chances when we are on top. We need to do more to get on the end of crosses because we had a lot of final-third entries.

"There are a lot of things right, but there are things we need to do better. There's only one way that gets solved and that's working hard on the training pitch."

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