The league leaders St Johnstone host Neil Lennon’s Dunfermline Athletic in the Scottish Championship.
In their last outing, St Johnstone defeated Ross County 2-0 at home in the Challenge Cup. McPake and Lloyd got the goals. In their last league outing, the Perth outfit beat Arbroath 1-0 at home. Striker Sidibeh’s goal was the difference. As a result, St Johnstone sit 5 points clear at the top of the Championship, ahead of Partick Thistle, who were defeated by Ross County, who sit at the foot of the table. Simo Valakari’s side have been a formidable force at McDiarmid Park so far this league campaign. The Saints have played 11 and are yet to lose, winning 7 and drawing 4, and have scored 24 goals.
Dunfermline Athletic come into this fixture off the back of a famous victory against Premiership opposition Hibernian to progress into the 5th round of the Scottish Cup, where they will face League One outfit Kelty Hearts at home. The Pars’ last league outing was back on December 27th, where they defeated Raith Rovers 2-1 away from home in the Fife Derby. Tod and Stewart got the goals for Dunfermline to secure the 3 points. Before winning in the Fife Derby, Neil Lennon’s side only had 1 win in 6 games, including a 4-3 defeat to Queen of the South in the Challenge Cup, who are in the league below. The Pars sit 5th in the Championship, 3 points behind Ayr United in 4th, who play Partick Thistle at home this weekend. The Fife outfit have had mixed results on the road so far this league season, winning 4, drawing 2 and losing 4.
The previous meeting between these sides came in November in a 2-2 draw. Stewart opened the scoring to give Dunfermline the lead. St Johnstone responded in the 30th minute through McAlear and went ahead in the 60th through Smith, but Neil Lennon’s side found the net in stoppage time to rescue a point. Back in September, The Saints beat The Pars at McDiarmid Park. MacLeod put the visitors in front just before the interval, but second half goals from Fotheringham and McPake gave St Johnstone all 3 points.
St Johnstone forward Louis Lloyd after scoring his first goal for The Saints:
“I am buzzing. The gaffer showed confidence in me to put me in from the start. I was determined to put myself out there and get myself a goal.
“I had a few chances in the first half that I maybe should have been on the end of. In the second half, the game opened up a bit more and Smithy (Liam Smith) has put one on a plate for me.
“The feeling was just delight. As soon as I saw the ball coming in, I thought ‘there is your moment’. I was just buzzing to celebrate with the fans and the boys as well.
“Hopefully I can keep adding more minutes and keep contributing with goals and assists. We’ll now make sure we’re straight back on it and focused for the rest of the season.”
Neil Lennon’s reaction to his side’s win against Hibernian:
“I said to my coaches with half an hour to go, ‘I think this is a 1-0 game, so it could go either way.’ Thankfully for us, it went our way.
“I thought our shape was good but I didn’t think we played as well as we could have done in the first half. We said to them, ‘Come on, play with a bit more positivity in the final third, a bit more belief.’
“Kieran probably should have done better with the initial header but we’ll take that all day long. We’ve taken a big scalp here today, and it should give the players a lot more belief in themselves.”
