St Johnstone have secured their first Premiership point and put down their first big marker for the season.
But Perth boss, Steven MacLean, has told his players they will need to back-up their hard-fought draw with Celtic by continuing that good work against Dundee next weekend.
“To come here and get a point is always a good point,” said a proud Saints manager.
“I’m delighted with my players.
“All the new players we had, the way they worked, the togetherness of them, the work ethic, they did what we wanted them to do to the letter.
“It’s important now that we kick on.
“There’s no point in coming here, getting a point, putting that work in and not kicking on.
“We need to make sure we have the same work-rate next week and try to get a result against Dundee.”
Dimitar Mitov has been man of the match week after week in his short time with Saints – and the Parkhead contest was another hugely impressive performance from the former Cambridge United goalkeeper.
Three times he denied Matt O’Riley and his command of his penalty box was a big part of the visitors’ keeping the champions at bay.
“Dimi had big saves at big times,” said MacLean. “That’s what he’s there for.
“He’s rightly got a call-up for Bulgaria.
“I’m very happy with him just now.”
Debut delight
MacLean gave debuts to all three of his recent loan recruits – Jay Turner-Cooke, Luke Robinson and Dara Costelloe.
And the Burnley forward nearly turned a draw into a famous win.
“At half-time I said we would get moments in the game and it was important we tried to take them,” said Maclean.
“Costelloe had a great run and showed what he’s all about with power and pace. It was a great save from Joe Hart.
“May had a one-on-one as well and Hart came up with another big save. That would have put the icing on the cake but I can’t complain about the result.
“You never know quite what you’re going to get with loan players.
“You see them doing good things in training but until you pitch them in, you never know.
“They’re young, hungry players who want to play at a higher level. Hopefully we can help them to do that.
“We needed people in to help the players already here. Injuries coming back will help things as well.
“The things that have happened so far, you couldn’t write it – all the players we’ve had out.
“You go on all these courses to learn about coaching and managing but nothing like that gets brought up.
“It was important we had a turnaround of players but I’d still like another couple, if I’m being honest.
“We’ll see what we can do next week.”
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