Dundee United fans are soothing their sores this morning, things could be worse. Picture the scene for one luckless individual; here was the Great Escape. Admittedly there was no digging of tunnels and neither were there armed guards to crawl past, but there was the high wall to negotiate not to mention the coil of barbed wire. Here was a darker scene than anything witnessed in thepreceding 90 minutes. As the world outside was swinging in to the Saturday night routine, showering and shaving and dressing up to the nines, here was one besuited fellow faced with an altogether different night out.

On a tightrope of a ledge narrower on which any previous United manager has balanced, and a drop, which even by Tannadice standards was dramatic, relief was imminent. Here was the only way out. It doesn’t seem that long ago that crowds regularly were locked out of Tannadice, but nowadays the only real prospect is that of being locked in the Press box by a steward anxious to clear the stadium by closing time. This was painful. New manager, new era, but unfortunately for the Tayside club, it was business as usual on the football field. Last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Motherwell offered hope that this once proud club could again prosper under the stewardship of caretaker-manager Alex Smith. At Tannadice on Saturday, though, the hosts were thoroughly outplayed by their Perth visitors and would have been deeper in mourning had Sandy Clark’s team taken even a fraction more of the countless opportunities they created. A well crafted goal after 12 minutes characterised St Johnstone’s overall performance. Graeme Jones ran onto a superb through pass from Tommy Lovenkrands and calmly despatched the ball outwith the reach of Alan Combe in the home team’s goal. Jones, a good old-fashioned target man, is forming a decent partnership with the youthful Kiegan Parker and it was thelatter who increased his side’s lead 12 minutes later.

It was ironic that Michael O’Neill - signed from Wigan on a short-term deal the previous day - came back to haunt his former club. His searching pass picked out Parker, who wriggled past David McCracken before unleashing a shot which Combe got a hand to, but could not prevent from crossing the line. At 2-0, Saints were cruising, but having surrendered a two-goal advantage to Hearts a fortnight ago there was still an air of apprehension among the travelling supporters. Sandy Clark, however, did not anticipate a similar collapse on this occasion. "We spoke at half-time about what happened against Hearts and how we let them back into the game," said Clark. "But at no time did I feel that would happen today. Even at 2-1 we were in control and I can’t recall Alan Main having a real save to make. We could have been four or five goals in front and I don’t think United could have any complaints." The hosts’ hopes were dealt a further blow when Craig Easton was forced to leave the pitchafter a clash of heads with Gary Bollan. To their credit, they refused to buckle and Hasney Aljofree reduced the deficit when he diverted a DavidHannah shot past Main in 63 minutes. But the damage had already been inflicted and that was a fact not lost on Smith who criticised his defence for the manner in which they conceded both first half goals.

"St Johnstone scored what looked like a very good opening goal, but from our point of view it was a bad one to lose," sighed Smith. "We were sliced wide open through the middle and weak defending also cost us the second goal. It’s important we acquire the winning mentality at the start of matches rather than when we go a goal down. "We had a chance to go ahead early on and Alex Mathie would admit he should have taken it." It’s plain his team need more resolve at the back, not to mention a player who will score goals on a regular basis. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Stephen Wright will sign for the club subject to a medical today and Danny Griffin is expected to make hisdebut at Dunfermline on Saturday. How Smith needs them.

Dundee United: Combe, McQuillan (Smith), DeVos, Aljofree, Buchan, McCracken, Hannah, Easton (Partridge), Heaney, Mathie (Davidson), Thompson Subs not used: Onstad, Fernandez.