6 St Johnstone away day facts as Tannadice win sets up chance of record-breaking Premiership total on the road

St Johnstone’s away form has been very impressive this season, with Saturday’s Stevie May-inspired defeat of Dundee United taking them to six victories.

Apart from Celtic and Rangers, the Perth side are the best performing Premiership team on the road.

In fact, they’re two ahead of the chasing pack and three in front of the league’s ‘best of the rest’, Hearts.

It’s possible that Saints could even post a club record return in the top flight since the mid-season split was introduced in 2013/14.

With six the magic number reached on Saturday, Courier Sport picks out half-a-dozen away day facts that put the running total in context (and shine a light on improvements needed at McDiarmid Park).

1 The target this team has to beat to be regarded as the best St Johnstone away performers in the split era is nine, set in 2016/17.

2 There have only been three seasons when the away win total has been higher than the home one.

They were 2016/17 (eight home, nine away), 2017/18 (five and seven) and 2020/21 (five and six).

3 Only one club has finished in the bottom two with Saints’ current total of away wins or better. That was St Mirren in 2014/15.

History would therefore back-up the growing belief that the threat of automatic relegation, or even being in the play-offs, is very remote.

4 Reaching six away wins by February 18, as Davidson’s team has just done, is the second earliest managed by a St Johnstone side.

Tommy Wright’s 2018/19 team actually got to seven before the end of December (by beating Dundee at Dens).

However, they didn’t win another match on the road in the rest of the campaign.

FULL-TIME | It's all over here at Dens.

Goals from Scott Tanser and Liam Craig give Saints the win after a fantastic away performance.

It's now 6 wins in a row on the road!

FT: Dundee 0-2 Saints#SJFCLive pic.twitter.com/JKI03Caedk

— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) December 29, 2018

5 The discrepancy between home and away wins is the biggest it has ever been since 2013/14.

That year it ended up 10 McDiarmid Park triumphs and just five outside Perth.

6 Dundee United fans will be sick of the sight of St Johnstone.

However, the Tangerines’ record of six Tannadice losses against their Tayside neighbours doesn’t even come close to making them the club which has lost at home to Saints the most.

That ‘honour’ goes to Motherwell, with a grand total of nine.

Aberdeen away. You know what goal is coming…

Brian Easton 2015. Ping.#SJFC pic.twitter.com/9wEJrma1V7

— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) September 17, 2021

A 5-1 in May, 2018 at Fir Park remains the biggest margin of away victory for Saints – matched by a 4-0 at Dens a couple of months earlier and a 5-1 at Pittodrie in October, 2015.