St Johnstone

An Adama Sidibeh double helped St Johnstone coast past 10-man Kilmarnock at Rugby Park to pick up their first win of the new Premiership season.

Sidibeh's strikes sandwiched Joe Wright's red card, as the defender was sent off after two yellows in the opening 16 minutes.

It got worse for Kilmarnock in the second-half when they were denied a penalty before conceding one two minutes later, with Benjamin Kimpioka converting.

What did you think of the match? Was it the best St Johnstone performance of the season?

How impressed are you by Adama Sidibeh and Benjamin Kimpioka?

Let us know your thoughts on the game here, external.

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland

Despite the loss to Aberdeen last Monday, Kimpioka and Sidibeh were singled out as St Johnstone's main threats. They were at it again today.

Helped by marauding left-back Andre Raymond, Sidibeh could have a few more and Kimpioka was a constant thorn in the side of the Kilmarnock defence. They tore apart a back-four bereft of confidence and seemed to feed on their energy.

Behind them, there are still improvements to be made. Despite being down to 10 men, Kilmarnock did go close a few times and hit the post right at the end.

Ultimately though, the game was managed in the second-half, allowing St Johnstone to pick up their first win on the road this season. Last year, they had to wait until February for that.

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St Johnstone manager Craig Levein told BBC Scotland: "There was some really good stuff, but the points are the most important thing after playing reasonably well last week and not getting any.

"Kilmarnock is a hard place to come to. I know they've had a tough game in Europe and that's taken a toll, but all credit to our guys. We played really well for long spells.

"We did too many things I think we can do better. Our defending could be better, we survived by the width of the post on a couple of occasions. Saying that, the clean sheet argues against that."

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Adama Sidibeh. Since turning up from Warrington Rylands in England's Northern Premier league, the Gambian striker has gone from strength to strength.

Craig Levein was worried he'd struggle to hold onto his little diamond and there's still a few weeks for someone left to pinch him.

He could have had even more today, but he'll take a brace - a brace that showed off his strength and his finishing ability.

Kilmarnock: McCrorie, Wright, Deas, Findlay, Armstrong, McKenzie, Watson, Lyons, Murray, Vassell, Cameron.

Substitutes: O'Hara, Mayo, Kennedy, Mackay-Steven, Anderson, Watkins, Wales, Polworth, Bainbridge.

St Johnstone: Rae, Neilson, Sanders, Cameron, Raymond, Wright, MacPherson, Essel, M Smith, Sidibeh, Kimpioka.

Substitutes: Sinclair, Clark, Carey, C Smith, Sprangler, McPake, Kirk, Olufunwa, Franczak.

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Marley Watkins remains a doubt for Kilmarnock with a groin problem while Kyle Magennis and Corrie Ndaba are just off featuring.

St Johnstone defender Sam McClelland is facing a lengthy lay-off after rupturing his Achilles against Aberdeen on Monday.

David Keltjens has a chance of returning after missing the Dons game with an ankle knock but Uche Ikpeazu (knee) is still out.

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Nicky Clark has challenged St Johnstone to get points on the board early as they seek to avoid another Premiership relegation battle.

Craig Levein's Saints narrowly stayed up last season after a slow start, with only goal difference keeping them above Ross County in the play-off spot.

There has been a large turnover of players at McDiarmid Park this summer under new owner Adam Webb, and Clark believes the new faces can help push St Johnstone up the table.

"There's been a lot of changes, I think 19 boys left and a lot of boys came in, so it will take time to gel but all the lads that have come in have been great," he said.

"The new owner has come in and is doing a lot of things around the place that the boys are noticing, which is great. It’s an exciting time to be at the club.

"We didn’t have a great start last year, we were down there scrapping away. Thankfully we got out of that, which was great, but it’s important we pick up results quick this year.

"We don’t want to be down there chasing everybody, we want to be up there with teams chasing us. Hopefully starting on Sunday we can get three points and then push on from there."

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Craig Levein has had one of those weeks again as St Johnstone manager.

As if losing their opening Premiership game at home to Aberdeen wasn't bad enough, the 59-year-old lost defender Sam McClelland for a couple of months following an injury picked up during the game.

Then came the fan furore after midfielder Cammy MacPherson shared a post on social media by far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

The 25-year-old apologised on Friday evening, with the club confirming the player would now face disciplinary action.

Levein blanked questions about the matter during his pre-match media conference and would not say whether MacPherson would be in his squad to visit Kilmarnock on Sunday.

However, the affair will have been an unwelcome distraction for Levein, who has already admitted that he is having to operate with a playing budget smaller than most of his rivals despite the arrival of the club's new American owners.

St Johnstone recovered from a shock defeat by League 1 side Alloa Athletic to qualify from the League Cup group stage, with strikers Adama Sidibeh, Benjamin Kimpioka and summer arrival Makenzie Kirk proving a potent strike force.

The good news for Levein as he looks for positives again is that Saints are visiting a side yet to win in their four outings this season after Thursday's 2-2 draw at home to Tromso. Albeit three of those were in European competition and the other was against the reigning champions.

Read all the weekend's Premiership picks

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St Johnstone manager Craig Levein offered his support to Sam McClelland after the defender suffered a serious injury in their Premiership defeat against Aberdeen.

McClelland, 22, was taken off on a stretcher having ruptured his Achilles in Saints' league opener will be out for several months.

"It's disappointing for me, but having had loads of injuries in my own career, I know just how devastating it can be to be out for a lengthy period of time," Levein said.

"Knowing what Sam faces, I feel sorry for him. I just hope his recovery is good and he can get back playing in the fullness of time. It's a really difficult situation for him.

"He's snapped his Achilles. Some players recover quicker than others for some reason – I don't know why – so it's difficult to guess how long he’s going to be out."

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• Kilmarnock have won both of their last two league meetings with St Johnstone, last winning three in a row versus the Saints in August 2018.

• St Johnstone have only lost two of their last seven league trips to Kilmarnock (W3 D2), although one of those was their most recent, a 2-1 defeat in December 2023.

• Kilmarnock have only won their opening home game in two of their last 13 top-flight league campaigns (D5 L6), although one of those was last season, beating Rangers 1-0.

• St Johnstone have won their first away league match in just one of the last six seasons (D2 L3), beating Motherwell 2-1 in 2022-23.

• St Johnstone boss Craig Levein has lost his last four Scottish Premiership matches against Kilmarnock. However, his last four top-flight wins as a manager against Killie have all come at Rugby Park, most recently with Hearts in February 2019 (2-1).

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Lewis Neilson has declared himself ready to make his mark in the top flight following his St Johnstone debut.

The 21-year-old defender started Monday's 2-1 defeat to Aberdeen after signing on loan from Hearts.

The former Dundee United defender made 43 appearances on loan with Partick Thistle last season and now aims to utilise that experience at a higher level.

"The idea with the loan was I needed to make a step up," said Neilson.

"I didn't want to go back on loan to the Championship. So I'm ready to make my mark in the Premiership this season.

"I came here to play. That's my idea. I want to play as many games as possible, so hopefully I've shown him enough to stay in the team and I'll just keep playing.

"I started the game at right-back, which I'm not too familiar with, but obviously if I'm on the pitch, I'm happy. I'll play wherever I get told to."

Hearts manager Steven Naismith gave Neilson words of encouragement before his move to Perth.

"He said it was a really good pre-season," added Neilson.

“He was really impressed with me and it was a difficult choice to send me on loan and he just felt at the age I'm at, I need to be playing week in, week out and I probably wasn't going to be doing that quite yet at Hearts.

"So to get a Premiership loan was going to be the best option."

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St Johnstone have confirmed Sam McClelland will be out for "several months" after rupturing his Achilles.

The 22-year-old defender was taken off on a stretcher in the second half of his side's Premiership opener against Aberdeen on Monday.

The Northern Ireland international joined the Perth club from Barrow in 2023 and spent the second half of last season on loan at Dundee United.

McClelland played all four of St Johnstone's League Cup group games this term and appeared to be a major part of Craig Levein's defensive plans.

"Sam had started the season well for us and for this to now happen is terribly unfair," Levein said.

"Sam has the support of everyone at the club and we all wish him a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back on the pitch."

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Geoff Brown was bestowed with an array of honours, including the renaming of the Main Stand at McDiarmid Park in his name, before the Saints' Premiership fixture versus Aberdeen on Monday.

The 'Geoff Brown Stand' was revealed during the tributes, while presentations from Webb and SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster rounded out the fitting on-pitch, pre-match ceremony.

Brown, whose family has had a majority shareholding in the Perth club for almost four decades, makes way for incoming American owner Adam Webb.

"A fantastic character," Bell recalls on Brown. "He's been so loyal to St Johnstone for so long.

"It was nice nice to see the fans and everyone giving him a real good send off. He's been a massive part of the club, so it's a new period for them.

On Webb, Bell added: "It will be interesting to see how the new owner wants to take the club on and take the club forward. It's all change up in Perth."

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New St Johnstone owner Adam Webb insists he is going to lean on Geoff Brown's considerable experience.

"He's not a big talker but when he does say something you should listen," said Webb of his predecessor.

"At some clubs, life president is an honorary role, here it’s a working commitment. He has agreed to take my calls and to help me work through all the difficult issues that we have ahead."

Webb told BBC Scotland, he feels like he’s "stepping into something magical" at St Johnstone.

"I’ve only been here a few months and already I feel like I bleed Saints’ blue," he said.

And what might those issues be?

Webb is weighing up the best approach to hosting Celtic and Rangers and the American is horrified by regulations prohibiting the sale of alcohol at games.

"The Old Firm sort of take over and there is some colourful conduct, shall we say, from some of those fans.

"It really alienates our home fans and so they tend to avoid the game. It’s a thorny issue. Do we want to sell tickets to these clubs or do we want our fans to feel comfortable."

He also calls the no booze rules “unacceptable”, saying: "We have to change those. Tonight we play Aberdeen and there’s no reason why our fans and their fans shouldn’t be able to have a beer."

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Summer arrivals at McDiarmid Park have not improved St Johnstone enough to keep them out of another relegation scrap, says former Saints goalkeeper Cammy Bell.

The Perth club were beaten 2-1 at home in their opening Scottish Premiership fixture by Aberdeen on Monday and were dominated by their visitors for large spells, particularly in the first half.

"There was patches in the game they did okay," Bell told BBC's Scottish Football Podcast. "I wouldn't say it was an inspiring performance from my point of view.

"It was probably where I expect St Johnstone to be at this moment in time. I’ve tipped them to probably be towards the bottom of the table."

That's even with a fresh-looking defence and goalkeeper, with last season's stalwarts Dimitar Mitov, Ryan McGowan, Liam Gordon and Andy Considine all moving on.

"They've just survived over the last few years and I don't see really any indication from the signings that have come in so far that it's going to be any different this season," Bell added.

"Probably Craig Levein knows that he's in a dogfight from day one.

"They were competitive against Aberdeen, they didn't let them blow them away, but I think if Aberdeen were a little bit more ruthless, it could have been a completely different score and they could have been out of sight.

"They hung in there, they showed a little bit of fighting spirit and Craig's got to hang on to any positives."

We asked you for your thoughts following St Johnstone's matchday one defeat to Aberdeen on Monday night.

Here's what you had to say:

Ally: Saints were never really in the game until Levein’s master stroke, a double substitution with five minutes of the 90 left. Trailing by two goals, why wait until so late in the game to make the changes? He said the team showed dynamism, shame he doesn’t.

Cameron: Encouraging. Few rough diamonds in the team that given time could do a very good job for us. Midfield too open at times but Saints fought back well and the depth of the squad looks far better than previous seasons.

Maybe needing a better CM to control the game more, but plenty positives to take from the game.

Ewan: A performance that appeared tired and definitely lacked any real ability to break down defences effectively. After a rollercoaster few weeks with new ownership and a Monday night with the small screen cameras, there was a real buzz about the support going into this fixture. But as was the case last season, we don’t start to play until we’re behind.

St Johnstone defender Sam McClelland, 22, sustained a ruptured Achilles in Monday's 2-1 home loss to Aberdeen. (Courier - subscription), external

Retired former St Johnstone defender Andy Considine has returned to Aberdeen to work at the club's youth academy. (Press and Journal - subscription), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish gossip

Watch highlights as Aberdeen open their Scottish Premiership campaign with a 2-1 victory over St Johnstone (UK only).

Well St Johnstone fans, what did you make of that?

How was the send off to Geoff Brown? And what about the actual match?

Did anyone impress you? Did you think you could snatch a point at the end?

Let us know your thoughts here., external