Hearts 'by far the third best team in the country' - St Johnstone gaffer Craig Levein praises former club

The former Tynecastle boss also spoke on Lawrence Shankland from the point of view of an ex Scotland gaffer.

St Johnstone boss Craig Levein described former club Hearts as 'by far the third best team in the country' after their 1-0 win at McDiarmid Park on Wednesday night.

The Saints gaffer was happy enough with his team's overall performance but, at the end of the day, it was Lawrence Shankland who once again made the difference. Talk of this summer's European Championships arose post match and the former Scotland gaffer says he would certainly be taking the Jambos' skipper to Germany.

He said: “I was really pleased with our performance, we matched Hearts in every department.  They are by far the third best team in the country but I was pleased to see us play some good football.  I thought we had possession for long periods and that pleased me. 

“The fact we lost 1-0 to a good Hearts side, with Lawrence Shankland scoring a goal that I don’t think anyone else on the field would have a chance of scoring, the way we played pleases me. I thought we were in it for long periods and our goalkeeper had very little to do.

"I don’t think anyone would say he doesn’t (deserve to go to Germany), his record speaks for itself. In a lot of games this season he’s been the difference for Hearts. I’m a big admirer.”

The match saw another contentious VAR decision where Saints could have perhaps been awarded a penalty when the ball struck Alex Cochrane on the upper arm inside the penalty are during the second half. However, Levein wasn't in the mood to be bogged down by things that couldn't be changed.

He said: “I haven’t seen it but it looked like it was going in. It’s done and there’s nothing we can do about it now.

“I’m hoping to have Liam Gordon, Matty Smith and David Keltjens back for Sunday but nothing is guaranteed.  We have been without a number of prominent players for the last two games, so all credit to the lads for the way they have dug in over the last two matches."