ALEX CLELAND will hand the baton to a new St Johnstone manager in the coming days.
He’ll also pass on a team who just showed they’re up for the survival scrap.
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Former boss Steven MacLean never got the chance to play Nicky Clark and Chris Kane up front together ONCE during his spell in charge.
And in just eight mad opening minutes here, the pair showed how MASSIVE they’ll be to Saints’ bid to beat the drop.
Clark scored twice to give them their first win of the season – and drag them three points closer to the pack.
They had to grind it out after Kyle Vassell struck back for Killie early in the second half and even more so when Dara Costelloe was sent off in 76 minutes for scything down Matty Kennedy.
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Nobody could accuse anyone of chucking it this time.
And any prospective bosses watching this – ex-Scotland gaffer Craig Levein was in the stand – will go away thinking there might just be a chance of doing something here.
Afterwards it was a delighted Cleland who hailed Clark for shooting St Johnstone to their first win of the season.
The striker scored twice in the opening eight minutes as ten-man Saints ground out a 2-1 win over Kilmarnock.
And stand-in boss Cleland insists the Perth players proved they’ve got the bottle for the relegation battle ahead.
He said: “Nicky over his career at all the clubs he’s been at gets goals.
“He’s a threat in the box and has good hold up play, we knew once we got him and Kano fit then we’d have good options.
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“We also have other options in Stevie May, Jephcott and DJ.
“You’ve seen what we can produce, we knew as coaches with Steven and Liam it was about getting the first win.
“There is character in the dressing-room and we showed it tonight.
“I said before the game there are good players here.
“League position never lies but we have good players, there’s a great squad in there.
“Getting the win was massive, I was asked to take it for a game and we got a response.
“It was a huge effort from everyone and it was so important to get three points.
“We got off to a great start, Nicky’s two goals were brilliant and gave the place a lift.
“You could see the confidence coming back after that and the fans got going too.”
Wing-back Dara Costelloe walked for scything down Matty Kennedy and Cleland has no issues with the red.
He said: “Dara is gutted, that’s the first red he’s had. It was a badly timed tackle and once it went to VAR we knew it would get upgraded.”
Killie boss Derek McInnes admits his side’s slow start killed them.
He said: “We paid the ultimate price for such a slow start. It is unusual and unlike us.
“We have had a lot of praise lately, particularly for our defensive displays and competitiveness.
“We’ve been aggressive from the outset and started games really well.
“We knew St Johnstone were in a poor place tonight and they didn’t need any encouragement but we gave them some.
“We spoke at half-time we need to work the keeper more and to get the ball side-to-side more.
“Kyle scored with a great finish and we dominated.
“But a combination of good spirit from St Johnstone and them going down to 10 men didn’t really help us.”
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