St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson praised his players for pushing title-chasing Rangers all the way after falling behind to Glen Kamara’s early strike.
The Perth side were unable to craft an equaliser to boost their prospects of pulling out of the relegation fight with local rivals Dundee.
Kamara ignored offside pleas to tuck a calm finish past static home keeper Elliot Parish as Rangers kept the pressure on leaders Celtic.
But Davidson saw enough fight from his side to suggest they still have the belief required to retain their top-flight status.
“After three minutes I feared the worst. The team talk had been about keeping it tight and make it hard for them but we gave them a great opportunity early on. But once they scored I was pleased our heads didn’t go down,” Davidson said.
“On another day we might have got a wee sniff at goal and got back into the game but it was not to be.
“But I said to the players afterwards if they give me that 90 minutes for the rest of the season we will have a really good chance of surviving. And that’s what it’s all about — surviving.
“Tonight showed the players are up for the fight. The staff are, the supporters are, the hierarchy are. We are all ready to fight and if we can keep doing that we have a good chance.”
Rangers manager Giovanni Van Bronckhorst admitted the result was everything after his side recorded their first Premiership away win of 2022.
“Three points in the bag and go home,” he told Sky Sports. “Sometimes football is like that.
“A very tough game, a lot of duels, a lot of long balls. The pitch wasn’t the standard we want to play our game so we needed to play a little bit differently.
“The early goal was a lift, they opened up after that, and we had a lot of chances after that in the first half.
“Second half, I don’t think we gave a chance away. We had to fight to win this game and we did.”
