The Celtic players were instructed to ignore the state of the McDiarmid Park pitch and concentrate on putting on a show in Perth, according to Ange Postecoglou.

League leaders by six points going into the match and 2-0 up after just 22 minutes, the champions were pegged back unexpectedly by Drey Wright's 25th-minute screamer for St Johnstone.

They responded in kind before the half-time whistle with Aaron Mooy's sumptuous lob over Remi Matthews making it 3-1 and killing any momentum the hosts were attempting to build. 

David Turnbull added a fourth late on but it was the clinical third that Postecoglou says showed his men had taken his pre-match pep talk to heart.

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"It is very easy to come here today and think it is going to be a bit of a grind and you just want to get the three points and get up the road," Postecoglou said after the game.
"But I said to the lads before the game: don’t waste any game of football, there is a goal to be found out there all the time if you are prepared to stick to your principles.

"It’s pleasing the players look for that. They’re not just going out there and saying ‘let's get the three points and get on with it’. They wanted to put on a strong performance and they did."

Three substitutes combined for the fourth goal - Oh Hyeon-gyu won a free kick from which Matt O'Riley set up Turnbull for the strike - with Postecoglou says just exemplifies both the strength in depth at his disposal and the attitude of his wider squad.

"Everyone wants to play," he said. "I understand that as a manager. Guys are disappointed not starting, guys are disappointed not getting on the pitch or in the squad.

"I think it is also important you use that disappointment in the right way and contribute when you are out there. Matt O’Riley was great when he came on, and Oh and Dave contribute to the goal.

"It is important for us because particularly in this stretch now when we have a game a week there won’t be the opportunity for guys to get game time. But I know what they’ll do is work hard at training and be ready when they are called up."