Valakari praises selfless Saints after late leveller

Simo Valakari revealed how unselfish St Johnstone players set Enes Alic up to be their free-kick hero in the 1-1 draw with Falkirk. The Bosnian left-back scored his first goal for the club in the sixth minute of stoppage time from a 25-yard set-piece. That sent Saints heading into the international break in sixth place and high spirits following their late escape. The Perth side played with 10 men after the 54th minute dismissal of Cheick Diabate. And they trailed to an Ethan Ross goal on the hour but pinched a point with the last kick of the game. Saints manager Valakari said Ruari Paton and Danny Schmidt were in contention to take the stoppage-time set-piece. But both players reckoned Alic's left foot was the best route to a leveller after assessment of the chance. Valakari said: "Everyone wants to be the hero. But I really liked that the boys were talking calmly for that free-kick – about where the wall is, where the goalkeeper is and who it would suit best. "Unselfishly, Ruari and Danny gave it to Enes. I loved that. They said my team-mate is in a better position to be successful. "It was a great goal to get us a point. The biggest thing was, as we have seen before, the players showed grittiness, determination and never-say-die spirit. "We fought to the end again. Our opponents made life difficult for us but we deserved this point." Diabate was sent off for two bookable fouls on Falkirk scorer Ross. Home fans appeared to feel referee Calum Scott gave too many decisions against their side. And Valakari reckons that sense of grievance from the stands may have helped rally his players. "For the referee it wasn't the easiest game," he said. "There were a lot of incidents towards the end that our supporters and players weren't happy about and that definitely helped us. "Our fans were fantastic, pushing our players forward and putting pressure on the referee. That, 100%, helped us."