Drop hurt so much I couldn't function

RELEGATION at Tynecastle on the penultimate day of last season stung.

- BY FRASER WILSON

But Simo Valakari admits watching Dundee fans tearing up McDiarmid Park after clinching their own survival on the final day was even more painful.

The pain of the 2-0 defeat to their rivals a few days later - and a pitch invasion that meant Saints couldn't thank their own fans at fulltime - left Valakari with a burning desire to make things right this season. He said: "When relegation was confirmed, it was a sad day.

“But it was more difficult on the final day, seeing the Dundee fans running on and destroying our field. We're going down, they're staying up. Not nice.