St Johnstone have five cup finals to secure safety and prove Celtic 7-0 defeat 'was a blip' says Liam Gordon

How the next five fixtures fall for St Johnstone doesn’t matter to Liam Gordon, just so long as he and his team-mates can put their Parkhead horror-show behind them.

The Perth side have shown top-half form in the cinch Premiership since the turn of the year but were ruthlessly defeated 7-0 by league leaders Celtic on Saturday, while their future opponents in the bottom six were being finalised elsewhere.

The aim of the game now is survival for the Saints having established a five-point gap from Dundee at the bottom. They are six points from Aberdeen and St Mirren above them, with matches against both, plus Hibs, St Mirren and Livingston to determine their fate.

How the games balance is of no issue to Gordon, so long as they get the right results from each.

“It doesn’t bother me what order we play the teams. We’re going to play them all and we’re aiming to take points off them all.

“This is an opportunity to produce our best run of results of the season.

“I read somewhere that we were about sixth in the form table since the turn of the year, which shows you that we’re back on course.

“This was a blip and we need to make sure that’s all it is. I’m confident it will be,” he said of the drubbing.

Liam Gordon wants to prove St Johnstone's heavy defeat at Celtic was just a blip and secure their cinch Premiership status. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

St Johnstone fell behind after eight minutes and slipped deeper and deeper as Celtic dominated and attacked at will.

“I hate getting beat from anyone and I certainly hate getting beat by that scoreline, but it’s from the league leaders, who are a top side,” Gordon added. “It’s not as if we’ve been well beaten by a club in and around us. That would have been much harder to take.

“We know that we’ve got five cup finals coming up.

“It’s about getting straight back to the good performances and results we were enjoying.

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - APRIL 09: Celtic's Matt O'Riley celebrates making it 5-0 during a cinch Premiership match between Celtic and St Johnstone at Celtic Park, on April 09, 2022, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group)

“There are teams above us who will get dragged into it if we start well after the split.

“We believe we can put a real push on, get the points on the board and keep ourselves in the league.”

Get a year of unlimited access to all The Scotsman's sport coverage without the need for a full subscription. Expert analysis of the biggest games, exclusive interviews, live blogs, transfer news and 70 per cent fewer ads on Scotsman.com - all for less than £1 a week. Subscribe to us today.