St Johnstone boss Simo Valakari wary of Hearts’ quality

St Johnstone head coach Simo Valakari looks forward to a “beautiful game” against Hearts at McDiarmid Park on Saturday.

The Perth side go into the Premiership clash on the back of a 3-1 defeat at St Mirren in midweek while Hearts lost 2-1 at home to Kilmarnock to go bottom of the table.

Valakari, who took over at the beginning of last month albeit paperwork issues kept him out of the technical area for two games, is relishing the prospect of the Tynecastle side’s visit.

He told Saints’ official website: “I see it as a big opportunity for us. I see it as a beautiful game to play in front of our home fans in our home stadium.

“We are playing against a very good footballing team. For whatever reason they are there [in the table], they have quality.

“We need to concentrate on our thing and be ready. As always, it is all about us.

“We look at this as an opportunity to play in front of our own fans, be positive, be brave and do all the little details as well as possible.

“Against a quality team, if you sleep for one moment, they will punish you.”

Valakari retains confidence in his side despite the defeat in Paisley, which followed wins over Ross County and Dundee.

The former Finland midfielder, who will be in the technical area at McDiarmid Park for the first time, said: “I saw this team from videos before I came in. Then I came in and saw all the players and people, and what kind of club we are.

“That gave me confidence that we can be successful. What I liked the most is the work ethic of the players, the staff and the people inside the club.

“They are ready to work for this one common goal. That gives you confidence. Nobody can control the results in football.

“But, if we can push and push, enjoy what we do and improve step by step different things on and off the field, that gives me confidence to push as high as possible.

“We have recovered very well mentally and physically from Wednesday night and we are ready for tomorrow’s match.

“I think we all saw what our team is capable of. Now it is just a matter of doing it more and more often through the 90 minutes.

“I liked the braveness. We knew the opponent would press us, make it difficult and hit long balls behind our backline. Still we tried to keep a high line.

“Those things made me happy – that the players are brave enough in difficult conditions. Then it is a matter of time that we become better overall. We are in a good position.”