Date	Saturday, 20 March 2021
Competition	Scottish Premiership
Fixture/Score	Saint Johnstone 1:0 Ross County
Venue	McDiarmid Park
Referee	Craig Napier
Ross County
Manager	John Hughes
Starting 11	1: Ross Laidlaw, 4: Leo Hjelde, 9: Billy Mckay, 15: Keith Watson, 16: Alexander Iacovitti, 19: Charlie Lakin, 22: Jordon Tillson 1, 23: Jason Naismith, 24: Harrison Paton, 25: Coll Donaldson 1, 26: Jordan White
Bench	21: Joseph Hilton, 6: Ross Draper, 7: Michael Gardyne, 8: Oliver Shaw, 11: Iain Vigurs 1, 14: Jermaine Hylton, 17: Regan Charles-Cook, 18: Stephen Kelly, 44: Matthew Wright
Saint Johnstone
Manager	Callum Davidson
Starting 11	Zander Clark, Callum Booth, Jason Kerr, Liam Gordon, Jamie McCart, Liam Craig, Shaun Rooney, Ali McCann, Chris Kane, David Wotherspoon, Guy Melamed
Bench	Elliott Parish, James Brown, Scott Tanser, Craig Bryson, Charlie Gilmour, Glenn Middleton 1, Craig Conway, Michael O'Halloran, Steven May
Attendance
Match Report	Ross County Substitutions: Michael Gardyne for Charlie Lakin (63') Iain Vigurs for Billy Mckay (63') Oli Shaw for Harry Paton (87') Jermaine Hylton for Coll Donaldson (90') Ross County Cautions: Jordan Tillson (81') Coll Donaldson (83') Iain Vigurs (89') Saint Johnstone Goal Scorer: Glenn Middleton (86') Saint Johnstone Substitutions: Steven May for Chris Kane (64') Scott Tanser for Guy Melamed (75') Glenn Middleton for Callum Booth (75') Report by Andrew Southwick for the BBC. Played Behind Closed Doors Saint Johnstone 1 Ross County 0 Callum Davidson challenged St Johnstone to claim a European spot after they snatched a Scottish Premiership's top six place in dramatic style with a late winner against Ross County. The Perth side had not been in the top half of the division since September. But Glenn Middleton's goal, coupled with Kyle Munro's late equaliser for Hamilton Academical against St Mirren, means the Perth men will finish in the top six for the second year in a row. "[Europe] is the aim," said Davidson. "I'm delighted we're there [top six]. It's like the cup final - once I'm there I want to win as many games as we can between now and the end of the season. Hopefully we can go and do that." St Johnstone are four points behind fifth-place Livingston, with that position guaranteeing a European Conference League spot next season should the Scottish Cup winners finish in the top four. County, though, are now two points above bottom-of-the-table Hamilton and just one clear of the play-off spot after Kilmarnock's win over Motherwell. Nothing less than a win would do if St Johnstone were to leapfrog St Mirren and their determination was clear from the beginning. Ali McCann had a shot tipped wide, Shaun Rooney's flashing effort was deflected past, and Chris Kane latched on to a through ball but had his route to goal blocked by goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw. The home side also delivered seven first-half corners into the box, but the Highlanders defended gallantly to keep themselves level at the break. Laidlaw got his body behind Liam Craig's shot as St Johnstone continued to be the aggressors in the second half, though Coll Donaldson scooped a promising opportunity over the bar for the visitors. St Johnstone kept coming, though. They had strong claims for a penalty when a cross hit the arm of Alex Iacovitti and, a minute later, Middleton got ahead of the defence but poked his effort wide. But finally they broke the deadlock when substitute May burrowed into the box and cut back for Middleton, who turned and swept home from close range. May had a free-kick pushed away as time ticked away with Callum Davidson's side still set to miss out on a place in the top six. But then news filtered though of that late goal at Hamilton. St Johnstone lacked a cutting edge for much of the game, with 13 corners also not delivering them much joy. But Middleton showed showed a real bit of quality to break the deadlock. County offered little as an attacking threat, but had defended resolutely and looked like earning a vital point before their resistance finally broke. St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson: "We played on the front foot and dominated most of the game. We had three glorious chances to score before we did and it got a bit nervy. Once the news came through it was 1-1 [at Hamilton], it got a big edgy. "We were bottom of the league at one point but the lads have been terrific since the end of December. The players deserve this, they've worked unbelievably hard and have been a credit." Ross County manager John Hughes: "That's the worst we've been, there's no point in sugar-coating it. But they hung in, that's the only credit I could give them. "We were second best all over the pitch. Had we got anything it would have been an injustice on St Johnstone. I've asked the players to show courage to keep this team in the Premiership."