Striker off the mark at last – and now hopes to continue Saints impact Johnstone looks to build on Rangers goal

Denny Johnstone had forgotten how to celebrate a goal.

But now that he is up and running after his first St Johnstone strike against Rangers last weekend, the on-loan centre-forward is hoping it will become second nature again.

Johnstone as an individual and Saints as a team are attempting to back-up their stand-out result of the season with another victory against a top six side, Hearts, at Mcdiarmid Park today.

And the former Celtic and Morton man believes he is now ready to become a first team regular for Tommy Wright’s men after finding starts few and far between in the early months of his Perth career.

“It was a brilliant day for us and I really enjoyed the occasion,” said Johnstone, reflecting on the 3-1 win at Ibrox.

“I had an early chance with a header that came close and had a feeling it was going to work out well.

“When I scored it was a huge release of emotions. All your frustrations from the previous weeks and months all disappear in a few seconds.

“You never know when it is going to turn for you. So it was a brilliant feeling.

“I didn’t know how to celebrate. I was asking myself where I was running to. I had to remember where our fans were at Ibrox. I had to check and turn the other way to run into the corner.

“It was frustrating to miss out against Aberdeen after taking ill. The manager had spoken to me and said I had done well coming on at Hamilton a few days earlier. Luckily for me I got in for the Rangers game.”

He added: “I don’t think there’s been any reason in particular for the slow start I have had here. But it has been really frustrating.

“I have just had to be patient and keep working hard in training because I knew when the chance came along again I would take it.

“I moved from the bottom of England to come here and play regular football. But I knew time was on my side. There’s still plenty of football left in the season. Hopefully I can stake my claim now.

“Back at the start my fitness wasn’t the best. I was coming off a February operation after tearing a cartilage. I hadn’t played a full match for months after agreeing the loan deal with Saints so getting my fitness up in the reserve games was needed if I am being honest.

“But now I feel I am back to full fitness and back to where I was on loan at Morton. I have a lot more confidence in my knee now and I can put the injury behind me.”

Defeat for either team will be a huge anti-climax given what has gone before.

A first league win for Saints at Ibrox in the best part of half-a-century was followed the day after by Hearts’ 4-0 thrashing of Brendan Rodgers’ Invincibles.

“I watched Hearts beat Celtic and it was a brilliant performance,” said Johnstone.

“It’s interesting that we are playing each other after having such good results. They stole our thunder a bit with that win.

“You would probably say they got the result of the weekend, even though we beat a record that had lasted more than 40 years at Ibrox. It was a surreal weekend when you think about it.

“Everyone wants consistency and with the winter break coming up we want to go into that on a high with a few more points in the bag.

“The win against Rangers should give us belief. And we did it with a good playing style. All three of our goals were excellent and should be trying to replicate that performance in the next few matches.

“We know we have to turn round our home record. The boys have been telling me teams have found it tough coming to Mcdiarmid in recent years. Everyone wants to get back to that.”

Wright, who may have Brian Easton back in his squad, said: “It has been stop-start and because of that people think we have been doing poorly but we are happy enough with the amount of points we have.

“We had 29 points going into the break last season, we are five points off that at the moment with three games to play and a match in hand. So hopefully we can go into the January break in just as good or an even better position that we did 12 months ago.”

Hearts could be set for a fresh boost with the potential return of three players ahead of today’s trip to Perth.

John Souttar is back from suspension after sitting out Sunday’s 4-0 Hoops drubbing, while fellow centre-back Aaron Hughes (calf) and winger Jamie Walker (hamstring) are close to declaring themselves fit after injury, though midfielder Arnaud Djoum (achilles) will be absent.