Craig Levein wants St Johnstone response after ‘laughable’ display against Alloa

St Johnstone manager Craig Levein has told his players they must play as if their lives are at stake against East Fife on Saturday after a “terrible” performance at Alloa.

Levein claimed some of the moments in the game were “laughable” after his side slipped to third place in Premier Sports Cup Group F following a 3-2 defeat at the Indodrill Stadium.

Morgyn Neill headed Alloa in front in the 54th minute, but the in-form Benjamin Kimpioka quickly equalised. However, Aaron Essel was soon sent off for the visitors.

Alloa forward Luke Rankin twice got in behind late on to round goalkeeper Josh Rae and finish brilliantly from tight angles before Jack Sanders pulled a goal back in stoppage time.

“I thought we were terrible. We not only got outfought, but at times we were outplayed as well. And I know we were down to 10 men for a large part of the game, but the way we were playing I’m not so sure that would have made a difference.

“Some of the big moments in the match were just laughable. Adama (Sidibeh) was through on goal and Taylor (Steven) tries to take the ball away from him when he’s got a chance to score right in front of goal.

“And then, for the last goal, we have David (Keltjens) running into our goalkeeper, landing on top of him and not letting him up.

“I don’t think I have ever seen anything in my days in football like those two incidents. It was crazy.

“We had chances to score and didn’t take them. Honestly, it was a terrible, terrible performance.”

Leaders Alloa will qualify if they beat Morton, while Saints need to beat East Fife in Perth and hope for the best. The Fifers are second after Nathan Austin hit a double in a 4-0 win over Brechin.

“We absolutely need to get a reaction. We need to turn up on Saturday and play like our lives depend on it because we didn’t do that (on Tuesday night).”