KANE REACTION

Saints strike late to halt rot and move out of bottom two

CHRIS KANE fired home an injury-time winner at the second attempt to give St Johnstone a much-needed victory.

The Perth hitman climbed off the bench to inflict a third successive defeat on St Mirren.

It's another shot in the arm for the hosts under Craig Levein but they were let off the hook by the misfiring Buddies who will look back on a night of missed opportunities.

Saints lifted themselves up a spot into tenth and all of a sudden their fortunes are beginning to turn but the Buddies' struggles continue.

The Perth side were forced into an early change when Max Kucheriavyi limped off in the 10th minute and Sven Sprangler replaced him.

That added to a stop-start first 20 minutes with neither side managing to seize control and neither goal threatened.