St Johnstone boss boss Tommy Wright has praised his players’ never-say-die attitude after they secured a draw against Celtic.
Saints took a shock early lead through Tim Clancy and should have increased their advantage just before half-time, but Stevie May’s penalty was saved by Lukasz Zaluska.
The home side were made to rue that miss when Kris Commons equalised from the spot in the second half before Teemu Pukki and then Virgil Van Dijk added further goals.
St Johnstone, though, produced a stunning comeback thanks to counters by teenager Scott Brown and then Michael O’Halloran to earn a well-deserved point.
Wright said: “I am delighted. I thought we were excellent in the first half and had a lot of possession, which is rare against a side with Celtic’s quality.
“We knew we would get a reaction from them.
“But I thought our players were great keeping going right to the end.
“I think the point is well deserved.”
May was withdrawn at half-time after picking up a knock but Wright is confident his star striker will recover quickly and he also admitted that some players had given him food for thought ahead of next week’s Scottish Cup final.
He said: “Stevie took a nasty one but it is just stud marks on the shin and there should be no problem at all.
“It is important with a squad of 21 that people put markers down to get into that cup final squad and I think they did that.
“There were a lot of good performances out there.
“I thought Michael O’Halloran was excellent again, Paddy Cregg was excellent and Scott Brown was superb for someone of 19.”