St Johnstone 0 Kilmarnock 0: Saints frustrated by stalemate

St Johnstone missed the chance to break back into the top six as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Kilmarnock at McDiarmid Park.

A victory would have catapulted the Saints above Dundee in the table but it proved to be a frustrating afternoon for the Perth outfit.

The hosts went into the game with confidence after their clinical 2-0 win over Dundee United a week previously and may have gone with the same starting line-up if it wasn’t for an injury to Simon Lappin.

That allowed the returning Murray Davidson, who signed a contract extension earlier in the week, to slot in to the Saints midfield for his first game since the Valentine’s Day loss to Celtic.

But even though Saints enjoyed most of the possession, they could not find that elusive breakthrough and had to settle for a point.

Indeed, Killie might have won it with 15 minutes to go had substitute Tam Scobbie not been on hand to block a goalbound effort from Nathan Eccleston.

Saints pushed for a winner themselves late on but found themselves frustrated.