Venue: McDiarmid Park                                                     Date: 05/01/25                                                          Time: 15:00pm

St Johnstone’s early collapse saw Dundee come out comfortable winners and leave the Perth side eight points adrift at the bottom of the table.

Just three minutes into play Josh Rae flailed as he jumped to catch a lofted free kick ball, leaving Simon Murray to put the visitors on the front foot.

In the tenth minute disaster struck again when St Johnstone were guilty of not clearing from a set piece allowing the ball to fall into Seb Palmer-Houlden’s feet, the 21 year old making no mistake to double his side’s lead.

Folding like a deck of cards on a windy day, Simo Valakari’s men found themselves three down just twelve minutes later, Lyall Cameron finishing Mulligan’s pass into the box which could have been finished by Oluwaseun Adewumi had he not missed the ball entirely.

Making two substitutions before the half hour mark, the manager look to turn things around but would earn no more than a consolation goal courtesy of Josh McPake’s long range effort.

Nicky Clark came close to getting the first for the home side but could not get enough purchase on Aaron Essel’s cross as the ball skimmed over his head.

Continuing in their struggles to find the target, Benjamin Kimpioka could not add a finish to his tricky footwork, ending the game goalless for the fifth time in a row before Adama Sidibeh failed to do better with his own effort.

Much improved in the second half, Clark at least forced a save from Trevor Carson who endured one of his more comfortable evenings in a Dundee shirt.

Palmer-Houlden probed for a second but was denied by a strong hand from Rae.

Attendance: 5,246

Line-Ups:

St Johnstone (4-2-3-1): J. Rae, A. Raymond (A. Essel 28’), B. Mikulic, J. Sanders, D. Wright, M. Smith (M. Kucheriavyi 28’), S. Sprangler, B. Kimpioka (J. McPake 58’), N. Clark (c), G. Carey, A. Sidibeh

Substitutes: A. Brookfield, B. Dair, A. Essel, F. Franczak, C. Helpburn, D. Keltjens, M. Kucheriavyi, C. MacPherson, J. McPake

Dundee (3-4-2-1): T. Carson (c), L. Graham, C. Roberston, R. Astley, S. Tiffoney, M. Sylla, L. Cameron, J. Mulligan, O. Adewumi (C. Garza 76’), S. Palmer-Houlden (C. Main 84’), S. Murray (E. Ingram 68’)

Substitutes: S. Braybrooke, C. Garza, E. Ingram, C. Main, J. McCracken, H. Sharp, J. Vetro

Referee: David Dickinson