St Johnstone

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland

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That's almost that for St Johnstone, but they'll go down sticking to the principles of play that Simo Valakari has tried to install.

Today, they were beaten by a fine strike and a penalty - two little mistakes that were severely punished.

The inclusion of Uche Ikpeazu was the eyebrow-raiser, finally returning from an injury picked up before the season even started.

His signing, made by Craig Levein, was supposed to be a statement of intent but unfortunately it has gone almost totally wrong.

Today was the start of his redemption story, but try as he might, it just wouldn't come off for him today.

It wasn't for lack of effort. He was bullying defenders, holding them off or winning headers, rolling them when they came to close.

A bit of match sharpness and he might have been on the scoresheet, and Saints fans might be left wondering what could have been.

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Uche Ikpeazu. You're guaranteed entertainment when the big guy plays.

He's had a rotten time of it since signing last summer, allegedly picking up a knee injury coming down the stairs in his house, but he's had to fight back to fitness and unfortunately, it's probably too little, too late.

He did his utmost today, tiring in the second half, bodying defenders left and right and showing an impressively deft touch.

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St Johnstone remain without Zach Mitchell (hamstring), Drey Wright (ankle) and long-term absentees Bozo Mikulic (knee) and Sam McClelland (Achilles).

Kilmarnock midfielder Brad Lyons will probably miss the game with a groin problem and Joe Wright will miss out with a hip injury. Kyle Magennis is back running and looking to join in training next week following his recovery from a knee injury.

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St Johnstone striker Makenzie Kirk says there has "always been a belief" in the dressing room, as the Perth Saints aim for an unlikely escape from relegation.

The Perth side have lost twice in the Scottish Premiership - both away from home - since beating champions Celtic, and currently sit six points adrift of the pack with just four games left.

The return to McDiarmid Park on Saturday though when they host Kilmarnock, followed by a further two home matches to either side of a trip to Tynecastle to take on Hearts.

Kirk said: "The next two games, especially at home, they're massive for us.

"We need to get a result. So it's important for us to focus on the task ahead.

"There's always been that belief within the dressing room. It's just about staying together and making sure that we can stay focused and get the results.

"The pressure is dealt with within the dressing room. We need to take a game at a time and we need to focus on the task ahead.

"We just need to make sure that when we go into the game on Saturday that we're fully focused and ready to do what we need to do."

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Derek McInnes has warned Kilmarnock must be ready to "fight fire with fire" against a St Johnstone side who are in "last chance saloon".

Saints are six points adrift of second-bottom Ross County with just four games left.

But Killie, who sit ninth, are taking nothing for granted at McDiarmid Park on Saturday as they look to move further clear of trouble with just a third away win of the season.

"If I was the St Johnstone manager, I'd still feel we had a real chance," said McInnes.

"I feel that when you hear Simo [Valakari] speak, he's full of belief and full of encouragement for his players to believe that they can get a result.

"And they'll be thinking that if they can go and win the next couple of games, then they're right back in it.

"I think Motherwell are now the only team in the bottom six who can breathe a bit easier after their win last weekend and there's still work for us all to do and we are well aware of that.

"St Johnstone are possibly in the last chance saloon in terms of winning games, but we're well aware of their threats.

"St Johnstone can beat us on any given day, they've shown that this season and they can beat other teams.

"They are a team that puts bodies forward. They've got good players and I think a lot of their best players are probably attacking players.

"So with that in mind I think, you normally see an attacking approach from St Johnstone and I firmly believe that will be the case.

"They will come right after us, they will see this as a big chance for them, they are at home and we have got to be ready to fight fire with fire, as we will do."

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• St Johnstone have won five of their past six Scottish Premiership home games against Kilmarnock, with the exception a 2-0 defeat in April 2024.

• Kilmarnock have won three of their past five league meetings with St Johnstone (L2), as many as their previous 13 beforehand (W3 D3 L7).

• St Johnstone have won three of their past five home league games (D1 L1), one more than across their previous 20 beforehand (W2 D5 L13). The Perth side could win back-to-back home matches in the Scottish Premiership for the first time since December 2023.

• Kilmarnock have lost their past six away league games, last losing seven in a row on the road in the Scottish Premiership in May 2021 under Tommy Wright en route to relegation.

• Bruce Anderson is the first player to score 10+ goals in a Scottish Premiership season for Kilmarnock since Eamonn Brophy in 2018-19 (11). However, Anderson has scored just two goals in 16 appearances against St Johnstone in the competition, only scoring fewer against Celtic (0) and Hearts (one) among sides he had faced 6+ times.

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It will come as little surprise to anyone that the latest attempt at reconstruction of the Scottish Premiership has failed to get off the ground.

A change from the current 12-team set-up to one of 10, 14 or 16 were the options being discussed but the SPFL said "there was no reasonable prospect of achieving consensus".

Maintaining the status quo is a consequence of there being "no perfect option" for change, according to The Herald football writer Stephen McGowan.

Speaking on the BBC's Scottish football podcast, McGowan said: "If you look at the options for expanding the Premiership, for 14 you would have to have probably a top six and a bottom eight and a different number of fixtures. So that's less than ideal.

"Look at the 16, which is the one that supporters really want. But Neil Doncaster has been saying consistently that you would then have to find a way to still preserve your four Celtic v Rangers games because Sky sports are not a charity. They're a subscription network who want to get the biggest numbers for games. So they want more Celtic and Rangers games.

"So it's how you square that circle with the 16 that's the problem. So it's not so much I don't think there's no great desire for expansions. There's no such thing as a perfect option and one that they can all vote for. That's the problem basically."

Former Scotland defender Maurice Ross, meanwhile, has accused Premiership clubs of "self-preservation".

"If they're going to remain the same, okay, let's put two clubs [automatically] down then and have a third-place play-off," said Ross.

"And we'll see what the reaction is of the clubs in four or five years' time. Then they'll want reconstruction."

St Johnstone defender Zach Mitchell has returned to parent club Charlton as the Perth outfit wait for news about whether he can play again this season. (Courier), external

Read the rest of Wednesday's Scottish Gossip

Sam Miller
Fan writer

Lapses in defence were once again the team's downfall last weekend.

It has been the most common of tales for the sorry Saints this season. You can't concede the types of goals we did against Motherwell and expect to compete at the higher end of the league.

We are in the position we are in based purely on the softest of goals conceded every week.

It's a huge game and one last throw of the dice on Saturday against Kilmarnock. Many things will have to go our way if we are to claw ourselves out of this mess.

If we are unable to get the job done then the reset button needs hit for the Championship campaign and Simo Valakari has to remain at the helm.

A conveyor belt of manager sackings is not in the Saints blueprint and faith needs to be shown in the Finn.

This is a thought for another day - all focus must on be putting Killie to the sword and trying to get us to safety.

Sam Miller can be found at Dogger Saints, external

Watch as the Sportscene team analyse St Johnstone's chances of survival following their defeat by Motherwell on Saturday.

Watch the Sportscene panel analyse St Johnstone's disastrous defending in their 3-2 defeat by Motherwell.

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Goalkeeper Nathaniel Nwosu, who won a Nigeria cap in November 2022 but currently plays for Tayport in the Midlands League, is to join Aberdeen on trial this week having spent last week with St Johnstone and with Stoke City, St Mirren, Dunfermline Athletic and Dumbarton all monitoring the 19-year-old. (The Herald), external

Read Monday's Scottish Gossip in full.

Watch highlights as Motherwell dent St Johnstone's survival bid.

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We asked for your views on St Johnstone's 3-2 defeat against Motherwell.

Here's what some of you said:

Paul: That's the season in a nutshell. Played well then dropped their level for a short time and get punished. Defensively, especially down our right-hand side, we were very poor.

Les: Simo Valakari talks well but the performances are just nowhere near good enough. We would probably need to win all four now and that just isn't going to happen. Our chairman has a huge decision to make irrespective of what happens now. Is Simo the man to take us forward? I'm not sure at all on this one.

Jimmy: Our defensive issues have caused us points. Personally speaking, I don't think the team are playing that badly, just that things haven't gone our way this season. There are still enough points to win in the upcoming games that should see us climb off the bottom. Some fans are criticising the players for not putting enough effort in and head coach for his team selection, but I think they know what's needed and he's doing a decent job.

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• Motherwell have won after conceding the opening goal in the Premiership for the first time since 28 September 2024 against St Mirren (13 games without a win).

• St Johnstone have lost after scoring the opening goal in the Premiership for the first time since 26 December 2024 against Dundee United (five games without defeat).

• Motherwell attempted 360 passes in this match, higher than their season average of 310.1 in the Premiership.

• St Johnstone have lost 20 points from winning positions in the Premiership this season, only Dundee (23) have lost more.

St Johnstone fans, what did you make of that one? Let us know your thoughts here.

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St Johnstone head coach Simo Valakari: "It was a tough afternoon. It's difficult to win the match when you concede three goals.

"It's hard to criticise my players though, they put in everything.

"There was a lot of good performances. Yes, the result was not what we were hoping but next home match we don't have any other choice than to win.

"When you change your backline you lose the connection between the players.

"The only medicine for this is to win the next game.

"We need some other results to go our way now too. At the same time, we can only do what we can do and we need to start winning football matches.

"The boys want to do well but unfortunately we get no points. That's how football works when you are bottom of the league."

Calum MacDonald
BBC Sport Scotland

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At one point in the afternoon St Johnstone were just two points behind Dundee in the live table, but the turnaround at Fir Park coupled with results elsewhere means Simo Valakari's side are now six points behind second bottom Ross County.

Today's game was the season in microcosm for the Perth Saints, they were playing some nice stuff, ahead and looking comfortable after 35 minutes, but much like last weekend the 10 minutes before the break proved crucial, they came back into the match in the last 20 minutes but were unable to fashion an equaliser.

Escaping relegation isn't yet impossible, but it looks increasingly unlikely.

Forward Adama Sidibeh, 26, wants to be St Johnstone's survival hero again. (Courier - subscription required), external

Read Saturday's Scottish gossip

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Motherwell have Steve Seddon back in contention, but Kofi Balmer (hamstring) joins fellow centre-backs Shane Blaney (knee), Paul McGinn (thigh) and Liam Gordon (concussion) on the sidelines.

Apostolos Stamatelopoulos (wrist), Sam Nicholson (knee), Jack Vale, Zach Robinson (both Achilles), Ross Callachan (hamstring) and Archie Mair (hand) remain sidelined.

St Johnstone could hand Uche Ikpeazu a league debut while Zach Mitchell (hamstring), Drey Wright (ankle) and long-term absentees Bozo Mikulic (knee) and Sam McClelland (Achilles) remain out.

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Simo Valakari has urged his St Johnstone players to "enjoy" the pressure of the club's fight for Premiership survival.

Saints, five points adrift at the bottom, begin their post-split schedule with a trip to face Motherwell on Saturday.

"Some people make estimations and calculations on how many points you need, but we don't do these types of targets," boss Valakari said.

"We need to go and perform. When we perform, we are likely to get a result. There will be twists and turns in these five games. I have said it many times, you need to enjoy these moments.

"Yes, the pressure is there, and you could call it negative pressure because we are playing to not get relegated. But you need to enjoy the pressure.

"We need to focus on our own. We can't control what happens in other games. Let's take care of our performance, then we can see what is happening."

Striker Adama Sidibeh insists Saints must "stick together" if they are to stand any chance of staying up.

"We're going to try and give everything that we can for the last five games, we have to try and stick together and fight," he said.

"These last five games, every game is a final because the gap is not big. We're confident, we have to try and do what we can and get the three points."

Clive Lindsay
BBC Sport Scotland

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Whether or not Uche Ikpeazu proves to be St Johnstone's saviour, they certainly need one.

Having been swept aside 5-0 by Scottish Cup holders Celtic in Sunday's semi-final, it is back to the task of trying to retain their Premiership status against the odds as they visit eighth-placed Motherwell.

Five points behind Dundee at the foot of the table with five games remaining, time is running out for Simo Valakari's side.

The Finn has to find a spark from somewhere and the long-awaited return of Ikpeazu from injury might just be it.

A 15-minute cameo at Hampden marked the striker's Saints debut, 11 months and five knee operations since he signed after leaving Port Vale.

Now the London-born 30-year-old will hope to make a similar impact in Perth as he did in his first stint in the Scottish top flight with Hearts.

He initially became a bit of a folk hero, and wild speculation even linked him with Celtic and Rangers, but he would head off to Wycombe Wanderers in summer 2020 after losing his place at Tynecastle.

Ikpeazu has never been a regular scorer and has found the net just nine times for five clubs in the four years before his return to Scotland.

However, he has an imposing presence, can bring others into the game and could prove an effective partner for veteran Nick Clark, who has scored three goals and provided two assists in his past seven league appearances against Motherwell, despite only starting five of them.

Indeed, Clark has scored in both of his past two Premiership games at Fir Park.

Read the rest of this weekend's Premiership picks.