Manager of month Steve Lomas had faith in St Johnstone revival

ST Johnstone manager Steve Lomas maintained he was always confident his team would turn their form around as he collected the Clydesdale Bank Premier League manager of the month award.

Saints started September with a goalless draw against Dundee United before following their shock victory over Celtic with successive wins over Ross County and Dundee, ending the Dingwall side’s 40-match unbeaten league run.

Lomas said: “It’s fantastic but obviously you are really picking it up on behalf of the lads and the way they have gone about their jobs.

“Long may it continue and hopefully it’s not the dreaded curse because we have a massive game on Saturday against a St Mirren side who are scoring a lot of goals.”

Saints had gone 12 matches in the SPL without a win before recovering from an early Kris Commons goal at McDiarmid Park to beat Celtic 2-1.

But Lomas retained his belief throughout a difficult start to the season when his new-look squad was hit by several injuries and dismissed suggestions their recent form was evidence of a huge turnaround. “I don’t think it’s remarkable,” he said. “The first six games I thought our performances deserved more points but, that being said, we didn’t get them. I was pretty consistent that our performances merited it, apart from the Aberdeen game at home when we were poor. But you like it to turn sooner rather than later because results breed confidence and there’s nothing like getting a win to enjoy your training and looking forward to the next game.

“Obviously the Celtic game was a massive boost to come from behind and get the win, and to follow that up with ten men at Ross County was an equally big boost.”