The Europa League is often talked about as a nuisance for football's big boys, but for St Johnstone and their captain Dave Mackay landing a fourth-place spot and an entry to the competition's qualifying rounds would be akin to football's Holy Grail.

 

St Johnstone made the qualifiers in Europe the past three seasons but the opportunity to make history and reach the group stages will be a huge incentive for the Perth side during the rest of the run-in.

"At my age you relish playing in those games and I thoroughly enjoyed the last few years playing in Europe, so hopefully we can make it four in a row," the Saints captain said. "I certainly wouldn't be complaining if we made Europe again."

Whether or not St Johnstone get another stab at Europe may be out of their hands however, as finishing fourth will only see them entering the summer draw if either Celtic or Inverness win the Scottish Cup.

What Saturday's 1-0 victory at home to Dundee secures is Saints' fourth consecutive top-six finish, remarkable considering they have scored just 29 goals. Only St Mirren have scored less than the Perthshire outfit yet they find themselves fifth in the table.

Mackay praised the resilience of the group for finding a way to grind out results even when they are struggling to find the net. "We lost Stevie May at the start of the season and we haven't scored many goals but we have still managed to get the results to get us into the top six.

"We've got our limitations as players but we all work extremely hard for each other. It's a real group effort; there are no individuals and everybody battles."

Dundee came into Saturday's match in buoyant mood having suffered only one defeat in their last 12 and still buzzing after defeating city rivals United. It seemed that Wednesday night had sapped a lot of energy out of the visitors, however, and they struggled to find any tempo on a difficult playing surface.

It was one of those afternoons where the first goal was going to be imperative and Saints got it in the 26th minute when Brian Graham dispatched a curling effort past the helpless Scott Bain after Michael O'Halloran dispossessed Simon Ferry.

The closest Dundee came to an equaliser was a minute before half-time when the ball broke to David Clarkson whose instinctive shot struck the post and he could only blaze over the top when the ball rebounded into his path.

The visitors did improve after the break but rarely troubled St Johnstone and after a draining win during the week they looked flat and tired.

"Wednesday night was amazing and it was a high tempo, physical game and the atmosphere was amazing too," recalled midfielder Stephen McGinn. "In hindsight, we had a bit of a comedown today and when you are in that situation you cannot give cheap goals away.

"You've got to try to score first and when we lost the first goal it was very hard to chase the game on that pitch and having played three days ago."

Despite defeat, Dundee are also set to finish in the top-six in their first season back in the top flight and McGinn was full of praise for manager Paul Hartley.

"I've been in dressing rooms where the manager's emphasis is on looking over your shoulders and concentrating on trying to avoid relegation. He [Hartley] has not mentioned it once. Not once. I can honestly say that.

"He has only said the top-six. We've given it everything we've got and hopefully it is enough to get there."