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St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright hailed his side’s defensive display as they climbed off the foot of the Ladbrokes Premiership with a goalless draw at Kilmarnock.
The Perth outfit recorded their first clean sheet on the road since February at Rugby Park.
The hard-earned point was enough to move Saints up to 11th place as they became only the third side in the Ladbrokes Premiership to shut out Killie on their own patch this season.
Wright was delighted with their solid defensive performance, especially after they shipped four goals to Motherwell on Saturday, but knows they need to provide more of an attacking threat.
“We were looking for improvements in both boxes,” he said. “We got it defensively and we weren’t bothered all that much apart from Zander’s (Clark) save.
“We win the game if we’re better in the final third because we got some good opportunities. Poor decision-making and execution let us down.
“We would have taken a point before the game but not many teams keep a clean sheet here and keep them quiet. I’m pleased with the performance and the point.
“I was pleased with the performance, especially after coming away from Fir Park with a 4-0 defeat.”
Kilmarnock manager Angelo Alessio admitted it was a disappointing game but felt his side could have been awarded a second-half penalty for handball when a shot from Chris Burke appeared to strike Jason Kerr’s arm.
Alessio said: “We are disappointed first for the result because it was a poor game.
“No chances, maybe one chance to score. I think there was a clear penalty for us for handball.
“We accepted the result because at the end it’s the right result because there were no chances.
“In the first half we didn’t play. We didn’t create chances to score.
“I think it’s important to understand, to take a point. This type of game, sometimes you can lose it.
“But it’s important to recover then prepare in the right way for the game against Livingston.”
