St Johnstone boss Steve Lomas was pleased with the performance of his players but not so happy with referee Crawford Allan for allowing Celtic’s winner to stand.
The Hoops claimed all three points thanks to Stokes’ 28th-minute goal, which proved to be the only counter of the game at Celtic Park.
”I was a little bit disappointed with the goal,” said Lomas. ”We didn’t think it was a corner to start off with and we have also been told that it was offside.
“I was looking for a level of performance and a reaction after the weekend (when they lost 5-1 at Motherwell) and I think we got it. We were pretty comfortable for most of the game.
”I actually thought the referee was pretty good tonight and let the game flow but and I may be proved wrong that one (the decision to allow the goal) was disappointing. The boys put so much in and we are talking about key decisions again.”
Now Saints can fully focus on the big one on Sunday at Tynecastle, where they can make sure they finish above Hearts by beating them on their own park.
”It is all to play for,” added Lomas. ”The encouraging thing is that if we get the level of performance that we got here tonight then we will be OK.”
Hoops manager Neil Lennon was delighted to reach the 90-point milestone.
”We’ve shown fantastic consistency. We can get to 96 points and that’s the target but even if we get 93 I will be very, very pleased,” he said.
Photo by Lynne Cameron/PA Wire