Mika Baur's first Celtic goal was enough for the champions to maintain their perfect start in the Scottish Premiership - but they made hard work of inflicting a first home defeat of the season on impressive St Johnstone.
Image source, SNSSt Johnstone manager Simo Valakari: "You play against the champions and big credit to them. That's why they are the champions - they find their way to win these matches, even when it's an even game.
"We created enough chances to get something. That's the disappointment of the evening, that we could not score those. We were in the match the whole match.
"It is a performance, not a result. When we keep performing, just taking care of our performances, the results, they will come."
Cal Gilkison
BBC Sport Scotland
Image source, SNSJosh Fowler has had an impressive start to life in the Premiership, with the 24-year-old St Johnstone striker currently topping the scoring charts.
However, it's been a long journey to the top for Fowler - from Beith juniors to Perth via Dubai and Australia.
After being released by Johnstone Burgh, Fowler's rise began in Scottish football's sixth tier when a chance to join Beith arose because his college lecturer was the club's president.
The striker's desire for full-time football then led him to Dubai, after unsuccessful trials with Kilmarnock and Motherwell. He spent two years at Gulf United, an experience he describes as "surreal".
Fowler, having also spent a few months in Australia with St Albans, was tempted back to Scotland last summer when Queen's Park made him an offer he couldn't refuse.
His signing raised eyebrows but he wasted no time in proving his doubters wrong, scoring five goals in his first four games. Fowler has never had issues with self-belief - "I've always backed my ability" - and his fine form attracted St Johnstone, who signed him for an undisclosed fee in January.
He had a tough start to life in Perth, with his minutes mainly limited to substitute appearances in the second half of the Saints' Championship-winning season.
"The second half of last season I struggled a wee bit on the goal front, but I'm really happy that I've kicked off really well," he said.
Fowler has shown his ability already this season with four goals in five games making him the Premiership top scorer, but he doesn't plan to stop there.
"I want to compete at the highest level I can and I'm at the top level in the country now," he said.
Image source, SNSSt Johnstone could hand a debut to on-loan Hibernian midfielder Josh Campbell but attacker Jamie Gullan is out with a minor groin issue.
Celtic will assess Kasper Hogh and Kieran Tierney after their return to training. Yang Hyun-jun has left for the Asian Games, while Callum Osmand (ankle) remains out and Jota is building up his fitness after a long-term knee injury.
The injured Landon Emenalo is still to arrive from Chelsea.
Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter
Image source, SNSManager Simo Valakari believes St Johnstone will have to "earn our luck" against champions Celtic on Wednesday.
The newly-promoted Perth side have picked up seven points from their opening five Premiership fixtures.
"We need to do our football things so well, then at the same time, we need to earn our luck, because against Celtic, if you want to beat them, you need to be a little bit lucky in some moments," Valakari said.
"You need to do your things so well that the luck favours you and that's kind of the thing that we tried."
Valakari's Saints defeated Brendan Rodgers' Celtic 1-0 at McDiarmid Park in their previous league meeting in April 2025, only to lose 5-0 in the Scottish Cup soon after.
"We have done it but of course at the same time, we are realistic, humble, we know what's in front of us," said the Finn.
"We worked so hard last year to get our promotion, to play in these matches, to be here, to play against Celtic, to play against these top teams and we need to be our best. We deserve to be here.
"One of our main things for this season, we want to compete, so it doesn't matter who we play.
"The biggest thing in Celtic is, it doesn't matter if it's 90 minutes, 92nd minute, you might win the games, still you fear that you're going to lose this, because the winning culture is so deep in them and it's not all about the winning culture, it's mostly about the quality of the players as well.
"When you have a quality and you build up this winning culture, it's a dangerous combination."
Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter
Image source, SNSSt Johnstone manager Simo Valakari has been speaking to the media before Wednesday's Scottish Premiership match against Celtic (20:00 BST).
Here are the key points:
Valakari says his squad go into the game "with confidence" but know they are playing a team who always find ways to win.
The Saints boss insists playing teams like Celtic is a reward for their promotion last season and believes his team are able to compete with the best on a game-by-game basis.
The Perth side can take belief from beating Celtic in the past and, although it is now a very different Celtic team, Valakari says this is also a very different St Johnstone team.
Saints "are realistic, humble" and "need to be our best", with Valakari admitting they "need to earn our luck" against the reigning champions.
Striker Josh Fowler - currently the Premiership's top scorer - has "every right to be confident" about his ability as he has the personality to succeed.
Team news: Jamie Gullan will miss the game after picking up an injury on Sunday but Josh Campbell is available after making his loan move from Hibernian.
Sam Miller
Fan writer
It has been an excellent week to be a St Johnstone supporter, even if the heart rate hasn't quite settled yet.
If you had offered any Saints fan four points from a four-day stretch taking in a trip to Dens Park and a home clash with Hibs, they'd have bitten your hand off, swallowed it whole and asked for seconds.
Let's be honest - if football was performance based, Saints were robbed of all three points against Dundee. A 1-1 draw was solid, but everyone in blue (or yellow) knew we were painfully unlucky not to walk away with a derby victory.
Thankfully, football moves fast. On Sunday at McDiarmid Park, Josh Fowler was back at it again, bagging a double to seal a thrilling 2-1 win over Hibs.
That victory highlights just how wildly unpredictable and tight the league table is. There isn't an inch of breathing room between the top half and the bottom.
What makes St Johnstone's campaign so absurdly tense is that every game so far, bar the draw, has been won or lost by exactly one goal.
From the opening 4-3 thriller against Kilmarnock, through 1-0 and 2-1 heartbreakers against St Mirren and Hearts, right up to Sunday's drama - we simply do not do comfortable, stress-free afternoons.
Naturally, the reward for all this emotional exertion is the small matter of welcoming Celtic to McDiarmid Park on Wednesday night. It's the ultimate litmus test for the squad's new-found confidence, but with momentum on our side, why not go out and give them a proper game?
The upcoming free weekend might come at a good time for the squad to recharge their batteries.
Mind you, it's coming at an even better time for me personally. I'm getting married on Saturday and as a lifelong Saints fan, I was secretly banking on us getting knocked out of the League Cup early so I wouldn't spend my wedding reception frantically checking BBC Sport under the top table!
St Johnstone won their last home league game against Celtic 1-0 in April 2025, ending a 13-game losing run at home to the Hoops in the Scottish Premiership. The Saints last beat Celtic in successive home league matches in April 1999 (run of three).
Celtic have won 23 of their past 26 meetings with St Johnstone in all competitions (D2 L1), most recently a 5-0 Scottish Cup semi-final victory in 2024-25.
Newly-promoted sides are winless in 37 Premiership games against reigning champions (D6 L31) since Hibernian beat Celtic 2-1 in April 2018.
St Johnstone have only won two of their past 12 midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) top-flight games (D5 L5), beating Aberdeen 2-0 in February 2024 and Ross County 1-0 in February 2025.
Celtic have won 23 of their past 25 league games played on a Wednesday, the exceptions being a 4-2 defeat to Hibs in May 2023 and 2-1 loss to Dundee United in December 2025.
St Johnstone will not go out to be defensive when Celtic visit on Wednesday, says Taylor Steven. (Courier - subscription required, external)
Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter
Scott Bain (Falkirk): Will he be Sebastien Pocognoli's Scotland number one? He did himself no harm against Dundee United.
Dujon Sterling (Rangers): Strong showing from the versatile defender in the weekend win over Motherwell.
Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic): Another impressive display at the back, winning 12 of his 14 duels in the victory at St Mirren.
Michael Forbes (Dundee United): Big goal to earn a point against Falkirk at Tannadice.
Jordi Altena (Hearts): A fine display at Tynecastle. Brave on the ball and at his best getting forward in the comeback win over Dundee.
Dan Neil (Rangers): Maybe his best game for Rangers since joining the club; good on and off the ball.
Jason Holt (St Johnstone): A 95% passing completion rate from the evergreen midfielder against Hibernian.
Yang Hyun-Jun (Celtic): Another goal to underline his growing importance to this Celtic side.
Camilo Duran (Celtic): Perhaps the signing of the season so far - the Colombian always makes things happen and proved his worth again in Paisley.
Josh Fowler (St Johnstone): Both goals to sink Hibs from the former Queen's Park man; on another day he could have had a hat-trick.
Djeidi Gassama (Rangers): A tremendous display overall from a player who might finally be finding consistency at Ibrox.
We asked for your views after Josh Fowler scored a double to help St Johnstone defeat Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership.
Here's what some of you said:
Paul: Solid performance and a great three points. Thought Zach Mitchell was immense at the back and Joel Cotterill looks a find. Just need to stop the silly mistakes as we won't always get away with leaking soft goals.
Brydo: Saints looked good again, full of craft and guile. The midfield pressed well, Josh Fowler was clinical and Toby Steward dependable in goals. Simo Valakari made subs at the right time - a great team effort all round.
Josh Fowler's first-half double made it back-to-back home Scottish Premiership victories for St Johnstone as they leapfrogged a lacklustre Hibernian in Perth, cranking pressure up on head coach David Gray.
Read the full match report here
Have your say on the game via this link
Image source, SNSSt Johnstone head coach Simo Valakari: "You have to play to your strengths, we've built up the team to play this way. It would be very stupid and naive to move away from our style because it is our strength to play this way. But at the same time we need to be able to hide our weaknesses.
"Today, in the second half, we didn't want to go that deep and defend our box but we needed to do it to get the result.
"They are a very good Hibs side. We needed something concrete to back up our performances, that's why this feels like a big result.
"We worked so hard last season to come up to the Premiership and play these matches. We want to compete, there's no better place than against the reigning champions [Celtic on Wednesday night]. It's a big task but a task we can go and see what we can do.
Image source, SNSSimo Valakari is "a happy man" after adding midfielders Josh Campbell and Joel Cotterill to his St Johnstone squad this week.
German forward Danny Schmidt has also been recruited and has obtained a work permit in time for Sunday's Scottish Premiership visit of Hibernian (15:00).
However, as Hibs are loan player Campbell's parent club, he will not feature at McDiarmid Park this weekend.
"I'm a happy man," Valakari told Saints TV.
"I was very happy to be able to get those two players. I was very happy with the squad and players we added. Joel and Josh were on our radar at the start of the window. Things don't always happen as fast as you wish but we were not in a rush.
"I was happy with what we had and I knew we would start the season well. We didn't just need to add numbers. We were in a good position to hold our nerve, focus and really go for those players we believed would really add something to our squad.
"I'm so happy they are here, they are both great characters and personalities and have football qualities that will really help our team."
Image source, SNSHibernian have only lost two of their last 15 Scottish Premiership games against newly promoted opponents (W8 D5), a 2-3 defeat at Dundee United in October 2024 and 1-4 loss at Falkirk in January last season.
Hibernian have won each of their last four away league games and could win 5+ in a row on the road in the top-flight for the first time since November 2005 (run of six).
After their 4-3 win over Kilmarnock, St. Johnstone are looking to win both of their first two home games of a Scottish Premiership season for the first time since 2017-18. The Saints have won five of their last nine home matches overall in the competition (D1 L3).
Hibernian have only lost two of their last 13 Scottish Premiership visits to St. Johnstone (W6 D5), both 1-0 defeats in March 2021 and December 2023.
St. Johnstone are winless in four league meetings with Hibernian (D1 L3) since a 2-1 victory in April 2024.
New St Johnstone forward Danny Schmidt, 23, will be eligible for Sunday's Scottish Premiership match at home to Hibernian after being granted a work permit. (Courier - subscription required, external)
Image source, SNSHibernian midfielder Josh Campbell has joined fellow Premiership side St Johnstone on loan for the remainder of the 2026/27 campaign.
The 26-year-old has made 184 appearances for the Easter Road club, five of those have come this season, with 23 goals and 20 assists across those outings.
"I would like to wish Josh the very best with this loan move," head coach David Gray said.
"I have known Josh for a very long time and watched him grow up and develop as a player over the years. During that time he has scored some big goals for us and provided some big moments over the years.
"Ultimately, he expressed his desire to go and seek more game time elsewhere, and this is an opportunity for him to go and do that."
Image source, SNSJoel Cotterill spent the second half of last season on loan at Dundee
St Johnstone have announced the signing of midfielder Joel Cotterill from Swansea City for an undisclosed fee.
The 21-year-old has put pen to paper on a one-year deal running until the summer of 2027.
Cotterill, who came through the youth academy at Swansea, made his senior debut in 2022 and has gone on to have loan spells with Stockport County, Swindon Town, Bristol Rovers.
He spent the second half of last season on loan with fellow Premiership outfit Dundee where he made 11 Premiership appearances and scored one goal.
"I had a call with the gaffer on Monday and he told me everything about the club," Cotterill told club media.
"I watched the game against Dundee on Wednesday night – and I saw how the team wants to play.
"Growing up at Swansea, it was always a team with the ball. I feel my biggest strength is being in possession and making things happen. I also like to drive forward and like to think I can be powerful with the ball.
"I've had different challenges out on loan. I think I've adapted previously and I've already got a taste for playing in the Scottish Premiership.
"It can be demanding and the games come thick and fast, but I'll make sure I'm ready for it and up for the challenge."
St Johnstone fans, we asked for your views after Wednesday's 1-1 draw against Dundee.
Here's what some of you had to say:
Roy: Two points thrown away against a very poor Dundee side. We really need to back up performances with results. Josh Fowler took his goal well though, let's hope that helps with his confidence.
Stuart: We are so close to being what we need to be, thankfully we got away with a point but need to start converting these chances.
Ally: Again a bit sloppy at the back from Saints, we need more aggression back there but cant fault the midfield or attack. Everyone working so hard, so much running in this team, it's great to see.
Watch all the highlights as Dundee and St Johnstone both scored late goals in Wednesday night's 1-1 draw at Dens Park in the Scottish Premiership. Available to UK users only.
Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter
Image source, SNSJosh Fowler believes St Johnstone showed character and quality after the striker grabbed a late equaliser against Dundee at Dens Park.
The 24-year-old came off the bench late in the second half and smashed home a 90th-minute leveller two minutes after the home side had gone in front.
"To concede so late after how we have played, it was an absolute sucker punch," he said.
"It is really hard to say 'can you go again and now can we try and get an equaliser instead of trying to get a winner?'
"But it just shows the character we have got in the team so we backed ourselves and we knew we could still get something from the game."
The draw means St Johnstone continue their encouraging start on their return to the top flight, having taken four points from their opening four games.
"I think everyone in our club knows the quality we have got and what we can do when we are at it and now we are hopefully starting to show people that," Fowler added.
"Four points, it's not the worst start, it is a very decent start, and we have got a lot of momentum to build on and there are a lot of positives to take.
"Every game we have been really competitive and it has been really close so we dust ourselves down and we get ready for Sunday [at home to Hibernian]."
