Celtic are the visitors to McDiarmid Park tomorrow as St Johnstone, currently bottom of the Scottish Premiership take on the current Champions and league leaders who are three wins away from securing a 13th title in 14 seasons…
Brendan Rodgers side bounced emphatically back from their Glasgow Derby disappointment with an impressive performance in the 3-0 win over Hearts at Celtic Park last Saturday. St Johnstone are five points adrift of second bottom Dundee and six behind Kilmarnock before the weekend fixtures get underway.
Dundee are at home to on-form St Mirren (they hammered Kilmarnock 5-1 last weekend) while Derek McInnes’ side play Motherwell at Rugby Park. St Johnstone head coach Simo Valakari will be hoping for a couple of away wins in those games so that the gap isn’t increased ahead of his side taking on Brendan Rodgers’ team Sunday lunchtime.
St Johnstone and Celtic play two matches in April and it’s probably more important for Saints to take something tomorrow as they attempt to avoid that dreaded trap door into the Scottish Championship. That’s never been an easy league to get out of with the likes of the two Dundee and Edinburgh clubs and even theRangers all having at least one failed attempt each. St Johnstone have avoided all that drama rather well having 14 consecutive seasons in the top tier of Scottish football.
St Johnstone deserve credit for changing their seating arrangements for their own supporters to accommodate Celtic’s large travelling support in three stands. Had Celtic won the Glasgow Derby then tomorrow could have been the day the Scottish Premiership was won. However while the Celtic support will probably have to wait a few more weeks for the celebrations to get underway, they will still pack out the allocated stands and make the match a much better spectacle.
St Johnstone FC Board statement
A St Johnstone FC Board statement last month, posted on the club’s official website stated:
“Following lengthy discussions, we can confirm that away supporters will be allocated the East Stand, North Stand and Ormond Stand. As there are accessible seating areas in the East Stand, we will not be required to sell tickets to away fans in the Geoff Brown Stand. Season ticket holders in the East Stand will be offered similar, and to the greatest extent possible, upgraded seats in the Geoff Brown Stand.”
