Simo Valakari calls for St Johnstone to top Celtic performance at Dundee United

St Johnstone manager Simo Valakari has told his players they will need to perform better against Dundee United than they did in their shock win over Celtic.

Bottom club Saints earned themselves a lifeline in the William Hill Premiership survival race when they beat the league leaders 1-0 on Sunday.

They now travel to face a Dundee United side who secured a top-six place last weekend and have the motivation of drawing level with third-placed Hibernian if they beat their Tayside rivals.

Valakari knows the trip to Tannadice is a totally different challenge than their defensive display against Celtic after getting an early goal.

“It is a totally new game this weekend,” he said. “The main message to our players is that we need to play better than we did against Celtic.

“When you play these big matches, you get a result, then the next game is always the most difficult. We are playing against a good team who have secured a top-six finish.

“After our performance, the expectation from outside and on our players is higher. But we have set the standard now.

“Against Hibs we dropped our standards, against Celtic we got them back again. But we need to do it all over again – and a little bit better. We will stay and fight – and see where it takes us.”