Tommy Wright relieved after St Johnstone survive ‘nervy’ ending to beat Dundee
The Perth outfit were two goals up and cruising through Steven Anderson's second-half volley and a Danny Swanson penalty when they conceded a late spot-kick.
Tommy Wright insisted it would have been a "travesty'' had his St Johnstone side not held on for their win against Dundee.
The Perth outfit were two goals up and cruising through Steven Anderson's second-half volley and a Danny Swanson penalty when they conceded a late spot-kick.
Anderson was guilty of a push on Yordi Teijsse and Rory Loy's successful penalty brought the Dens Park men back into the game at 2-1 and gave the Premiership's bottom side some hope.
However, despite some late pressure the Dark Blues could not find an equaliser and Wright claimed Saints' victory was richly deserved.
The McDiarmid Park manager said: "It was definitely more nervy than it should have been at the end. I reckon it would have been a travesty if they had equalised.
"It was crazy, I don't know what Ando (Anderson) was doing. He was getting a bit of a ribbing in the dressing room.
"It was a silly thing to do and caused ourselves a nervy two of three minutes when we shouldn't have. But they've seen it out and we've got the win which we did deserve.''
St Johnstone struggled to carve out clear-cut opportunities before Anderson's breakthrough and, having questioned his captain's actions in conceding a penalty, Wright praised the defender - and Liam Craig, whose free-kick set up the opener.
He added: "Again Ando chips in with a goal, which he does five or six times a season. He's not the biggest but he makes good runs and he's got a desire to get in front of defenders and into good positions.
"The ball was perfect, just right over the defenders and into an area where it asks questions - would the goalkeeper come or not come? It really was on a plate for Ando, to be fair.''
Dundee manager Paul Hartley admitted his team's second-half display had not been good enough and he confessed they now face a huge match with second-bottom Patrick Thistle on Wednesday.
The Dens Park side are a point behind and have lost their last five games and are without a win since the opening day of the league season.
Hartley said: "We are in a position where we don't want to be and we have to turn it quickly. That has to start on Wednesday.
"Partick Thistle is a vital game for us now. We are 10 games in, it's not been good enough and that can't become a habit now."