St Johnstone players showed Simo Valakari there is hope despite 2-0 defeat to Rangers

Andy Kirk believes the St Johnstone players showed new manager, Simo Valakari, that there is plenty for him to work with.

With Valakari still waiting for his work permit to come through and sitting in the Ibrox main stand, the interim boss took charge of Saints for the third and final time against Rangers.

The Perth side lost 2-0 at Ibrox, Vaclav Cerny scoring a goal in each half.

But it was a step forward after the previous week’s much heavier loss to Celtic, according to Kirk.

“We were up against a very strong team,” he said.

“The players knew the new manager was in the stand watching so they obviously wanted to impress.

“I thought first half we worked hard and the shape was pretty good but we were really untidy with the ball.

“Second half we changed the shape a little bit which I think helped.

“There are definitely positives we can take from that game and the fact that the new manager will be able to work pretty soon with the players.

“He’s got to see the players live – and what he’s got to do.

“The manager wants us to play on the front foot.

“We get a bit of time now to work with the players and get messages across because of the international break.”

Two changes

There were two changes to the Saints line-up following last weekend’s thrashing by Celtic.

Graham Carey dropped to the bench, while Kyle Cameron missed out through injury. In came Benji Kimpioka, back from suspension, and Aaron Essel.

Apart from the odd occasion when Kimpioka was able to get his team up the pitch it was pretty much a contest of attack v defence at the other end from the first whistle.

And from an eighth minute corner, Cyriel Dessers should have put away a free header.

There was a heart-in-mouth moment when James Tavernier stepped up to take a 20-yard free-kick on 18 minutes but the Premiership’s master of a dead-ball couldn’t keep his effort on target.

He had another try on the half-hour from a bit further out, with the same end result.

Cerny showed his team-mate how to finish from outside the box a few minutes later, albeit from open play. He curled a left-footed effort past Ross Sinclair after turning Sven Sprangler to put Rangers in front.

There was a flicker of hope that Makenzie Kirk might level the scores just before half-time after he found himself a yard of space 25 yards from goal but his well-struck shot was high and wide.

Second half switch

Saints made a double substitution during the break, with Adama Sidibeh and Cammy MacPherson replacing Sprangler and Drey Wright.

MacPherson was culpable for the goal that ended the game as a contest. He misplaced a pass in a dangerous area and within the blink of an eye, Cerny had scored his and his team’s second.

On 68 minutes, Jack Butland was forced to make his first save of the match – from Kirk at his near post. It should have been a goal.

Rangers had to play the last 15 minutes with 10 men after VAR intervention resulted in Ianis Hagi being sent off for a dangerous tackle on Kimpioka.

Nicky Clark then had a goal disallowed for offside and the hosts saw the game out for a 2-0 victory.