St Johnstone boss Simo Valakari vows his side will be 'fearless' as they bid to pull off the great escape

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Simo Valakari claimed his St Johnstone side will now approach their relegation battle without any fear after their shock 1-0 victory over Celtic.

Widely written off as certainties to go down automatically, Saints stayed within five points of 11th-placed Dundee with a famous win which came courtesy of Daniels Balodis’ fourth-minute header.

With the Dark Blues and Kilmarnock both picking up wins on Saturday, the Finn challenged his players to give themselves hope of yet staying up by recording a first win over the league leaders since 2016.

And having done just that, Valakari believes his men now have to back themselves to pull off the great escape over the course of their next six matches.

‘In a relegation battle you need these results, winning games nobody expects you to,’ he said.

‘We said it before the game among ourselves, football is crazy sometimes. We needed something unexpected to happen and it happened today.

St Johnstone boss Simo Valakari celebrates their  first victory against Celtic since 2016

Goalkeeper Andy Fisher and goalscorer Daniels Balodis savour their win at McDiarmid Park

‘We go fearless because everyone has written us off, especially with the gap the way it was this morning.

‘We were frank with ourselves. We said we might walk into McDiarmid Park at 10.30am on Sunday morning with the gap bigger.

‘So, we prepared ourselves for that. The players walked in with our chests up and showed it on the field.

‘I have talked a lot about our confidence. We didn’t perform against Hibs (a 3-0 defeat) but I knew we’d do better.

‘Next week (Dundee United) is a new game, new opponent and a different environment with a tactical twist so we will prepare for that now.’

Saints had won just one of the last six league games prior to this with Valakari believing the monumental upset can change the entire mood within the club. 

The Saints boss added: ‘I am happy for the players because it’s not been easy for them. I love to see them smiling. I hate it when they are unhappy because they’ve lost.

‘I want to see smiles. We believe in what we’re doing. Can we stay up? Of course. The fight continues.

‘We have six games left and will it be easy? No, we are big favourites to go down. But we do our work and today we were so good. So let’s see what happens.’

Although keeper Andy Fisher pulled off some fine stops late in the game, Valakari insists he always felt confident that his side would hang on for a precious victory.

‘It was fun — a real fun experience!’ he said.

‘You have to take your chances but I felt comfortable through the whole match. I think we nullified their threats well.

‘We frustrated them, got a little rub of the green when we needed it.

Balodis gives St Johnstone an early lead with a glancing header that proved to be the winner

‘Andy Fisher made some world-class saves and that’s what you need in games like this.

‘Before the match it was all about the stadium being full of Celtic fans, but out there it felt like the whole stadium was ours.

‘They were amazing, we had one stand, big noise and they showed who the home team was. I am very proud. The biggest thing was the three points because of where we are.

‘We were hurting after last weekend. People said a lot of things about the kind of team we are.

‘I knew the boys would bounce back from that, so I am proud of them.’