Dundee travel to Perth this weekend to take on St Johnstone in the Ladbrokes Premiership and here we round up everything you need to know ahead of the match.
Match Info
FIXTURE: St Johnstone v Dundee
COMPETITION: Ladbrokes Premiership
DATE: Saturday 11th March 2017
KICK-OFF: 3.00pm
VENUE: McDiarmid Park
Opposition Info
FORMED: 1884
STADIUM: McDiarmid Park
CAPACITY: 10,696
PITCH SIZE: 105m x 68m
MANAGER: Tommy Wright
CHAIRMAN: Steve Brown
NICKNAME: The Saints
MASCOTS: SuperSaint
CLUB COLOURS: Blue and White
HONOURS: Scottish Cup winners: 2013/14
Scottish League Division Two (second tier) winners: 1923/24,
1959/60, 1962/63
Scottish League First Division (second tier) winners: 1982/83,
1989/90, 1996/97, 2008/09
Scottish League Challenge Cup winners: 2007/08
Scottish League B Division Supplementary Cup winners: 1948/49
Scottish Consolation Cup winners: 1910/11, 1913/14
RECORD WIN: 13-0 v Tulloch, Perthshire Cup, 17/1/1887
CLUB WEBSITE: www.perthstjohnstonefc.co.uk
Getting to the Ground
The full address of St Johnstone for Sat-Nav is McDiarmid Park, Crieff Road, Perth, PH1 2SJ
By Car:
On approach to Perth take the Stirling/Glasgow/Crianlarich/Inverness slip road (Jct 10), this links up with the M90. Follow signs for Inverness (A9), second left at Broxden roundabout. 1 mile down by-pass, take slip road (A85) to Crieff, at mini roundabout turn right to Perth. Straight through next roundabout, McDiarmid Park is on your left.
Directions from Perth:
Bus Services
McDiarmid Park can be reached by bus services mostly leaving the city centre from Mill Street (next to the cinema). Services number 1, 2, 13 and 15 all travel along the Crieff road, stopping either directly outside Tesco, or across the road from the stadium.
Perth Bus Station
Perth Bus Station is situated on Leonard Street, which is approximately 3 miles away from McDiarmid Park. The easiest way to reach the park from the station is by taxi.
Rail Transport
Perth Railway Station is also situated on Leonard Street which is some distance from the stadium – the best part of a 45 minute walk (uphill!). A taxi drive will take ten minutes and cost around £10. A short walk from the train or bus stations will take you to the city centre where there is a major bus interchange in Mill Street.
Taxi Services
Ace Taxis can be contacted on (01738) 633033
Head to Head v St Johnstone
LEAGUE: Won 55, Drawn 36, Lost 46
SCOTTISH CUP: Won 6, Drawn 2, Lost 1
LEAGUE CUP: Won 6, Drawn 2, Lost 3
CHALLENGE CUP: Won 0, Drawn 0, Lost 1
TOTALS: Won 67, Drawn 40, Lost 51
Last Five Dundee v St Johnstone Games
31/12/2016 | Home | Premiership | Won 3-0 | 6,492 | El Bahktaoui, Gadzhalov, Anderson (og)
23/10/2016 | Away | Premiership | Lost 2-1 | 3,646 | Loy
12/2/2016 | Home | Premiership | Won 2-0 | 4,876 | Hemmings (2)
27/11/2015 | Away | Premiership | Drew 1-1 | 4,598 | Hemmings
15/8/2015 | Home | Premiership | Won 2-1 | 6,176 | McPake, Hemmings
Last Meeting
Dundee finished 2016 as they started it, by defeating local rivals at Dens Park. On Hogmanay St Johnstone had to deputise in United’s absence and The Dee saw off The Saints 3-0. Goals by Faissal El Bakhtaoui and Kosta Gadzhalov put the Dark Blues in a strong position at half time and the Dark Blues’ victory was sealed by Steven Anderson’s unfortunate own goal early in the second half.
Dundee FC: Bain, Kerr Etxabeguren, Gadzhalov, Holt, Hateley, McGowan (c), El Bakhtaoui, O’Hara, Wighton, Haber
Unused subs: Mitchell (gk), Loy, Duffy, Williams, Ross, Curran, Waddell.
Goals: El Bakhtaoui (14), Gadzhalov (42) (Anderson o.g. 56).
Booked: Kerr (foul on Swanson).
St Johnstone, Clark, Foster, Shaughnessy, Anderson (c), Easton, Swanson, Paton (Wotherspoon 61), Davidson, Alston, Craig (Kane at half time), MacLean (Cummins 71)
Unused subs: Mannus (gk), Scobbie, Millar, Watson.
Booked: Paton (foul on O’Hara), Swanson (foul on Kerr).
Attendance: 6,492 (1,523 Saints fans).
Referee: Don Robertson. Assistants: Alan Mulvanny, Ivan Stankovic. 4th official: Greig Aitken.
St Johnstone’s Season So Far
St Johnstone have had a decent season so far, keeping themselves in the top five for most of the campaign and away from the very tight group below them.
The Saints started their season by winning three of their four Betfred Cup sectional ties and drawing the fourth to comfortably top Group B and after an excellent 3-2 win at home over Hearts in the second round, exited the competition at the quarter-final stage 1-0 at Pittodrie to eventual runners-up Aberdeen.
The Perth sides Ladbrokes Premiership campaign had started with a 0-0 draw with The Dons at Pittodrie and they have been consistently picking up points both home and away since. A five game unbeaten run in October propelled St Johnstone into the top half of the league which included three wins on the trot against Ross County, Kilmarnock and Dundee and a draw at Ibrox.
A poor November failed to see The Saints win a game but they bounced back just after the advent calendars were opened with a 3-0 win over Inverness at home and were then unbeaten in their next four games and unbeaten in December until they came to Dens on Hogmanay.
Since the winter break St Johnstone have defeated Hamilton, St Johnstone and Partick and lost to Celtic (twice), Rangers and Kilmarnock as well as a disappointing defeat at home to Partick in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup after knocking out Stenhousemuir in the previous round.
Tommy Wright’s side have been hampered by injuries in recent weeks and Dundee travel to Perth on the back of two defeats for The Saints. They will have taken heart from coming back from 2-0 down a Ibrox, only to lose in injury time and will be looking to get back to winning ways against Dundee.
Top Scorers
DUNDEE: Haber, Stewart 6; O’Hara, McGowan, Loy 4; Holt, O’Dea, Hemmings 3;
ST JOHNSTONE: Swanson 12; MacLean 11; Kane 5; Anderson, Cummins 4
Ticketing Information
Prices are:
North Stand (behind the goal) £23/£13/£10
West Stand (Main Stand) £24/£14/£11
Family deal available only at Turnstile 5 (West Stand) £16 for 1 Adult and up to 2 under 12’s
Car parking is severely restricted due to ongoing construction works so supporters are urged to come early and be patient. Follow the directions of Stewards and Police.
Car sharing where possible would certainly alleviate some of the capacity problems as would the use of public transport where possible.
Coaches should park on the west side of the all-weather pitch (on the left as you come down the hill towards the Stadium)
Egress from the car parks will be facilitated by Stewards and Police with traffic points on Crieff Road to control exit. Coaches will be given priority in the right hand lane on exit.
McDiarmid Park is strictly a No Smoking Stadium, this includes the use of electronic cigarettes.
Disabled Supporters:
St Johnstone has an accessible facility for away fans in the north end of the West Stand. Access to these nine positions is entirely on the level and there is an accessible toilet close by. Wheelchair-using supporters are admitted at a cost of £13. If the person is accompanied by a personal assistant, they will be allocated a seat in the row behind the wheelchair area and admitted free of charge.
Booking of wheelchair spaces on a game-by-game basis should be done as early as possible in the week prior to the match. Please contact the ticket office at Dens Park who in turn will advise St Johnstone of all their requirements for this category of admission. Although this method of pre-booking is recommended to ensure that the facilities are not over-subscribed, St Johnstone will sell wheelchair-user/carer tickets from their Ticket Office on the day of the game subject to availability
Matchday Programme
St Johnstone match programme is a 28 page full colour edition and priced £2.50 it will be available in and around McDiarmid Park before kick off.
How To Watch
The full ninety minutes of the match will be available to subscribers of DEETV on Saturday evening while a shorter highlights package will be available to view on Sunday alongside exclusive post match interviews with the manager and players.
The pre-match press conference is also available to view on DEETV from Thursday.
You can sign up for DEETV for just £5 a month on the official website where you will have access to Highlights, Interviews and all the Dundee FC goals at the click of the button.
If you are out with the UK you will also be able to take advantage of our Live Streaming package for every home game.
