St Johnstone interim boss Andy Kirk reveals what will define club’s season after thrashing by Celtic

The results St Johnstone get against Celtic won’t define their season, according to interim manager Andy Kirk.

But whether they can become a better team at defending their penalty box undoubtedly will.

The Perth side were thrashed 6-0 by the champions at McDiarmid Park.

They actually held out for over half an hour but three goals in 10 minutes (two for Kyogo and one for Paulo Bernardo) settled the match by the interval.

After the break, Callum McGregor, Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah turned it into an even more painful evening for Saints and their supporters.

And, after paying tribute to a top class Celtic attacking display, Kirk highlighted the fact that his own team could have limited the damage if they’d defended better.

“Listen, when Celtic are in that form they’re unstoppable at times,” he said. “They’ve got threats all over the pitch.

“Our game plan was to try and be organised, pass runners on, try and deny them space and opportunities to break us down.

“We did that well for 30-odd minutes.

“I thought that up until the first goal our discipline and shape was pretty good.

“But after we lost the first goal we lost our way and conceded three before half-time. It shows how quickly you can get punished by a quality team.”

Context

Kirk added: “The context is the team you’re playing against.

“You have to hold your hands up and say that they are way, way ahead of where we are all over the pitch.

“You can see them doing that to a lot of teams this season.

“But there’s professional pride and there at least two or three of the goals that we can defend better.

“Regardless of whether it’s Celtic, if you defend like that you’re going to concede goals.

“I do believe they’re an honest group – and I couldn’t fault their work-rate.

“But if we don’t learn from these mistakes we’ll have problems no matter who we play.

“That will define the season.

“If we can fix that, defend better and concede less goals we’ll give ourselves a chance to pick up points.

“That’s the biggest thing at the minute.

“We’ve got to learn from these mistakes.

“If a cross comes into your box you have to defend it, that’s the bottom line.”

Talks are progressing with Tiernan Lynch, as Saints’ American owners seek to make a permanent appointment to replace Craig Levein.

Kirk, whose focus has been on preparing the side for the last two matches, said: “When a new manager does come in the building you’ve got to look at that as a fresh start for him with the group.

“This was always going to be a difficult game for us – the levels between Celtic and us are huge.

“Hopefully we get can get through this tough spell and leave the club in a better position for him to take over.”

Kirk reported that Kyle Cameron was taken off with a hamstring strain and Jason Holt missed out with a tight calf.