Stephen Robinson tells Michael Mandron a Celtic start is no guarantee despite St Johnstone goal heroics

Stephen Robinson watched Mika Mandron destroy St Johnstone with a deadly double then warned the hitman he’s still not guaranteed to start against Celtic on Wednesday.

The French-born star produced his best performance in a St Mirren shirt as the Paisley side moved level on points with second-placed Rangers. Mandron bullied the Saints rearguard and produced two clinical finishes either side of Keanu Baccus’ wonderful 36th minute opener and Greg Kiltie’s late tap-in as they gave the rock bottom Saints a lesson in finishing.

It’s now just one defeat in nine league games for the Paisley men while at the other end of the table the Perth Saints are still searching for their first victory of the campaign. And Robinson said of his number nine: “I set Mika and Toyi Olusanya a challenge - neither has made the position their own.

“In certain games where we need more physicality I play Mika. And other games Toyi’s pace kills people. Mika has made a good statement today but that doesn’t mean he will start at Celtic.”

Saints are now five points clear in third but Robinson insists they’ve achieved nothing yet. Next up is a trip to face the champions and the Northern irishman said: “I’ve been in the game long enough to know not to look too far ahead.

“It’s a very good start but that’s all it is. We’ve not achieved anything yet. We’ve raised expectations with our performances and results and the hard bit is trying to keep meeting those expectations.

“If we can do that the end product could be very beneficial for the football club but we’re a long way from that. It's always a challenge to go to Celtic Park. It's a difficult venue, you saw their performance just there in Europe.

"But Hibs have proved today they're not invincible. We can