Simo Valakari ‘never thought about’ relegation during dark days for St Johnstone

Simo Valakari is adamant he never resigned himself to relegation even when his St Johnstone side were nine points adrift at the foot of the Premiership.

The Perth club looked destined for the Championship as a dire run in which they took just two points from nine games through December and early January left them marooned at the bottom.

But they have found form since mid-January, with six wins and two draws from their last 10 matches in all competitions taking them into the semi-final of the Scottish Cup and within five points of second-bottom Dundee with eight games to play.

Asked if there was ever a point he feared his side were heading for the drop, Valakari said on Thursday: “No. I can say, bottom of my heart, never, ever thought about it, because that time when we were there, there were still so many games.

“And you think about three wins, three points, get them a couple in a row, it changes everything in this league, because you almost always play against your direct opponent.

“You win, you take the points out of them, you add these three points (to your tally) so, no, no, no. And still it is so many games left that anything can happen.”

Valakari said his players are “realistic” enough to know they are still in danger, but he praised them for giving themselves a chance of survival when many suspected they were doomed.

“It is hard to explain it (the upturn in form) here, because you didn’t see the results during December, but I saw the players all the time in training, and I saw how much attitude, energy, they had to turn things around,” said Valakari, whose side visit Hibernian on Saturday.

“Of course, it is not easy when you are not getting the results, going the next day again, again, again. But our players, they did it. They kept doing, doing, doing. And then, for me, it was just a matter of time before we started getting these results, and it happened.

“I was so happy for the players and the fans that we started to get these results and seeing a little bit of smile in everybody’s face. But we are still far away from where we want to be, and that’s why we have to keep pushing.”