Saint Johnstone 2, Kilmarnock 1

Ten-man St Johnstone recorded a 2-1 comeback victory against Kilmarnock as they claimed their fourth successive win.

The home side fell behind after just a couple of minutes at McDiarmid Park when Steven Smith fired Killie ahead.

But Saints hit back through Michael O'Halloran and Chris Kane to secure the win and maintain their recent fine form before they lost Liam Craig to a red card late on.

They welcomed back skipper Dave MacKay from suspension, as well as forward Steven MacLean, who was not risked on Hamilton's artificial surface last week.

Kilmarnock were boosted by the news that injury doubt Rory McKenzie was fit enough to take his place in the starting line-up.

It was the visitors who got off to the best possible start when they surged into the lead in under two minutes. Josh Magennis released Kallum Higginbotham down the right flank and he whipped a cross into the box where Smith was waiting to nod home in off the underside of the crossbar.

There was a further setback for Saints when they were forced to make their first change after 13 minutes when Graham Cummins limped out of the action and was replaced by Kane.

The home side quickly recovered from those early blows, however, when they restored parity after 23 minutes.

Higginbotham was robbed of possession by MacLean, who raced into the box.

And, after some patient build-up play between MacLean and O'Halloran, it was O'Halloran who stabbed home from eight yards.

Saints were on target again as they surged into the lead just four minutes into the second half.

MacLean was the provider again, this time supplying the pass for Kane to bullet home a powerful effort that left Jamie MacDonald with no chance.

Killie immediately set about trying to haul themselves back into the game and carved out a couple of decent chances of their own.

Craig Slater forced home stopper Alan Mannus into action with a well-struck shot, before Magennis dragged wide of the target.

Kris Boyd was then thrown into the action and was not too far away with an effort that dipped just over the crossbar.

Saints found themselves down to 10 men with five minutes to go when Craig was shown a straight red card for bad challenge on Smith.

Substitute Dale Carrick passed up the chance to rescue a draw in injury time when the ball fell for him in front of goal and he was unable to unleash the shot.

Despite the numerical disadvantage, the home side were able to see out the remainder of the match and hold on for all three points.