Celtic 4-0 St Johnstone: Analysis

It proved another thankless afternoon for Simo Valakari's side, who find themselves further adrift at the foot of the table.

Not unexpected and perhaps this fixture came at a bad time given confidence is clearly low right now.

For the first third, they produced a stoic, structured performance that restricted Celtic but as they began to tire, their opponents mercilessly overran them.

They were chasing shadows come the end.

They hold the worst defensive record in the Premiership and can take some positives from this but not too many.

With a resurgent Hibernian the visitors next, they need to find some way, any way, to take something from that fixture to avoid becoming detached.