St Johnstone dash Butcher and Inverness Euro hopes

With so much focus on the exploits of Highland duo Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Ross County in the top flight this season, Lomas feels the Perth club have been largely overlooked, but their 2-0 win over Motherwell at McDiarmid Park clinched third place in the SPL on the final day and a place in the Europa League qualifying rounds at the expense of Inverness, who lost the Highland derby in Dingwall.

“I think what we have done has been slightly underplayed this year,” said Lomas. “I can understand why, because with Ross County coming up last season, they were among the favourites to go down as were Inverness, but they have both had great seasons.

“I have to tip my hat to Terry Butcher and Inverness. They were magnificent this season, with the amount of goals they scored. They had goalscorers in abundance in their team.

“But our team was exactly that – it was a team and it was all about the team. It was a sum of all parts, not just individuals. It showed again today, if you have a group of self-motivated players, then you can achieve things like this.

“For a club like St Johnstone to get two European qualifications on the spin is probably the equivalent of winning the league for us. This is as good as it gets for St Johnstone, so we should enjoy it. It is a fantastic, positive story and hopefully it gets some of the coverage it deserves.”

Lomas could not have been more satisfied with the approach of his team on a day when their destiny was not entirely in their own hands, needing Inverness to slip up in Dingwall.

“We told the boys beforehand that we could only look after what we did today,” added Lomas. “If we had started worrying about what was happening in Dingwall, it would have taken our minds off the job in hand.

“But they were fully focused, their effort and commitment was great. Their quality of play, which is sometimes overlooked, was also good. I thought we carried out our gameplan to perfection. It could have been a lot more than 2-0. We were certainly the more threatening team and Motherwell’s only real chances came from set pieces.”

Midfielder Liam Craig, whose stunning 36th minute goal set St Johnstone on their way to victory, was delighted to finish his career at the Perth club on a high note. Having signed a pre-contract agreement in January to join Hibs next season, Craig was keen to maintain a good relationship with the Saints support.

“There were one or two shouts against me when the pre-contract was first announced and things weren’t going our way on the pitch,” said Craig, “but the majority of them know what I’m all about. I was never going to change how committed I was on the pitch. I’m glad I helped send them home happy tonight.

“It’s great for me that Hibs are in Europe as well next season, but for me today was all about making sure St Johnstone got there. It’s fantastic for a club of this size to get there two years in a row.”

Motherwell manager Stuart McCall, while disappointed to end a fine season for the Fir Park club with a defeat, was able to put the afternoon in perspective.

“We’ve had a great campaign and we have so many good performances to look back on,” said McCall. “I don’t like to say St Johnstone were hungrier than us today, but they had the bit between their teeth.”

McCall again played down reports linking him with the managerial positions at both Sheffield United and Doncaster Rovers.

“It is all speculation until someone comes in and asks to speak to me,” he added. “I am planning for next season with Motherwell.”