St Johnstone 0 Dundee United 0: Ten-man Saints show their battling qualities

Ten-man St Johnstone showed their battling qualities to pick up a home point against Dundee United.

Saints were left with a second half mountain to climb when midfielder Melker Hallberg was ordered off in the 53rd minute.

The recent arrival was cautioned in the opening half and then received his next yellow for a similar tug-of-the-jersey offence.

Required to dig deep, Perth players remained resolute and displayed great determination to keep the visitors from leaving with three points.

Saints remain second from bottom of the Premiership but the hard-earned result pulls them a point clear of Dundee, who lost to Ross County.

It’s rare when Callum Davidson is afforded the opportunity to list the same starting line-up two matches on the bounce.

But continuity was the name of the game for this tussle of Tayside following Tuesday night’s much-needed win at Livingston.

All 11 starters from the dramatic midweek boost were trusted with sparking similar scenes of celebration, this time on home turf.

Saints’ start in West Lothian had been particularly impressive and matching those energy levels was going to be imperative.

The productive pressing performance was on show again early doors although United had looked threatening on a couple of occasions.

A Dylan Levitt corner, in particular, bounced precariously inside the box before the ball was eventually swiped away from danger.

But a better opening fell the Perth side’s way on 18 minutes when Hallberg - impressive on Tuesday - showed his strength to advance deep into opposition territory.

The Swede unselfishly picked out Ali Crawford in plenty of space inside the box but, after settling himself, he fired a pure strike off the underside of the crossbar. So close.

Callum Hendry,