'No panic' despite shock cup exit, says Valakari

[SNS] St Johnstone boss Simo Valakari insists there is "no panic" from him despite his team suffering a shock exit from the Scottish League Cup. A draw with third-tier East Fife ensured Saints could not progress from the group stage. They also lost the subsequent bonus point penalty shootout. The Premiership club knew they required victory to maintain their hopes of progression to the knockouts. However, they had to wait until the first minute of stoppage time before Sam Stanton gave them what they thought would be the winner. But a terrible mix-up in the St Johnstone defence allowed East Fife to equalise just moments later. Valakari says he expects his players to be much sharper for their opening Premiership game of the season next week at home to Kilmarnock but admits there is disappointment at going out of the cup at this early stage. "There is no point to panic, there is no point to make any drama," the manager told BBC Scotland. "The only disappointment is that we did not advance from the group because we wanted to go as far as possible in this competition. "This year, it ended here, so that's the cup competition. We learned from this, but with the results, we can't do anything."