Lee Clark delighted to see Kilmarnock keep a clean sheet against St Johnstone

Kilmarnock boss Lee Clark praised his team for rediscovering their resilient streak after brushing off their nightmare defeats to Celtic and Aberdeen with victory at St Johnstone.

The Rugby Park men shipped 10 goals in the space of just two games but bounced back to pick up their first Premiership clean sheet of the season with a 1-0 win in Perth.

Substitute Scott Boyd - a first-half replacement for Jonathan Burns after the defender suffered a broken nose - grabbed the only goal of a ugly McDiarmid affair when he prodded home from a corner with 14 minutes left.

Killie also had goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald to thank while Clark pointed to the return of vice-captain Miles Addison as another crucial ingredient to his team's win.

The Englishman - whose side move up to ninth after ending a two-month wait for a win - said: "It's been a long two weeks since the Aberdeen game. There's been a lot of soul-searching and debriefing of that defeat. We had a chat about where I felt we had gone wrong in the previous two games to where I felt we'd been before Celtic.

"By the end we were still disappointed with our output in those two games but there was a realism about what we are up against in Aberdeen and Celtic, two outstanding sides, two clubs poles apart with us.

"We got the positivity back and people were starting to look about and feel there was a decent side there. We've shown that today against a very good side.

"It's our first clean sheet as well and we've got that bit of magic from a set-piece to give us the win.

"Jamie was outstanding again, as he was in every game. It was good to get Miles Addison back for his first start in a month too. I just told him it was no coincidence that we get that clean sheet today."

St Johnstone dominated the first half but were denied what looked a clear penalty when Boyd barged into Steven Anderson in the box and had a Steven MacLean goal ruled out for offside.

But the hosts failed to match their intensity after the break and boss Tommy Wright admitted the defeat which leaves Saints sitting fifth was self-inflicted.

He said: "It looks like we should have had a penalty. I have seen it back and it is a barge. You get some and you don't.

"We had loads of chances and their goalkeeper pulls off a couple of good saves.

"In the second half we played into their hands in terms of the tempo we played at.

"The first corner they get they score from it. We've done that to teams in the past and we'll take it on the chin and move on.

"It is disappointing to lose and we should have won the game but we only have ourselves to blame."