Simo Valakari insists St Johnstone’s stunning defeat of Celtic has provided a huge injection of confidence – and vindication for their methods – ahead of the relegation run-in.
Saints secured a timely first victory of the season against a top-six side by bringing down the champions-elect at McDiarmid Park.
Valakari was thrilled by the response to not only the poor 3-0 loss to Hibernian the previous week but the deflating Saturday setbacks of Kilmarnock and Dundee both winning.
Remarkably, those relegation rivals and Ross County remain within reach with six games left to play.
Saints travel to Dundee United on Saturday before the league splits and Valakari’s men tackle a rematch with Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden.
The Finnish coach is convinced his team can keep producing positive results in this late-season rally.
Valakari said: “The games against Celtic and Rangers are always different.
“That’s why, when I analyse our opponents, I don’t look too much into their matches against them.
“What I liked about our performance on Sunday is the way we went into it wanting to show we are better than we had been against Hibs.
“The players were desperate to show we are not that bad. So when you do that, you have a performance like we did, very solid and limiting Celtic to just a few chances, it does a lot for the confidence.
“Before the game, I think everyone would have taken a draw if we were offered it.
“But, as the game goes on, you start to think you can win it. To not win it in the end would have been a big disappointment, so I was really pleased with the way we saw it out.
“This business is all about results, we have no option but to go out and perform now.
“This team has been there before and has this fight within them. Sunday’s result helps us believe in what we’re doing.”
Tactical switch
Valakari instigated a formation switch to a 4-4-2 for the first time in more than three months.
He benched Sven Sprangler, his captain since the turn of the year, and used Victor Griffith alongside Jason Holt in central midfield.
Sprangler replaced Graham Carey midway through the second half as Valakari made all four of his substitutions on 67 minutes.
“Sven has been in all season, he has played a lot of minutes for the team and led us through some difficult moments,” Valakari explained. “For tactical reasons, we made a change.
“When Sven came off the bench, in not his usual position because we needed something different, he did well and contributed to the win.”
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