BETCHA WE BEAT DROP; Hitman Hardie is adamant Saints will defy the bookies.

Byline: Anthony Haggerty

MARTIN HARDIE bagged his first SPL goal in six years then backed drop-favourites St Johnstone to survive in the top-flight.

Bookies automatically tipped the First Division champs for a quickfire return to the Scottish Football League at the end of season.

But Hardie insists that the Perth men - back among the big boys after a seven-year absence - have what it takes to emulate the likes of Inverness Caley Thistle, Falkirk, St Mirren and Hamilton Accies by making sure their tenure in the SPL lasts longer than one campaign.

He said: "I think the bookmakers always label the newly-promoted team from the First Division as the side most likely to go down.

"The First Division suffers from a lack of TV coverage and therefore people are only going on what they read in the papers.

"People can write St Johnstone off at their peril and our manager knows that as a team we can cope with the best of them in this league.

"If we can keep picking up points like we did against Hearts then that can take us a long way in this division.

"In the past few seasons the team that have come up as champions have done well. They come up with the mentality of a First Division side. They get right in the faces of the opposition and some SPL teams don't like that approach.

"St Johnstone are confident because we are playing in front of bigger crowds, better players and we are having to up our own game every week.

"We can't afford to rest on our laurels and it is going to be a long, hard journey but one that we are looking forward to.

Belief "In the past few seasons Inverness Caley Thistle, Falkirk, St Mirren and Hamilton have made their mark and gone on to establish themselves in the SPL.

"That kind of thing gives us the confidence and belief we can emulate those achievements.

"We have also played a lot of SPL sides in cup competitions in recent seasons and only Celtic defeated us in 90 minutes when we met in the Scottish Cup semi-final. We took confidence from that and knew we could hold our own at SPL level."

Hardie scored a beauty of a last-gasp equaliser for Saints against Hearts with a trademark 20-yard freekick in Sunday's pulsating 2-2 draw at McDiarmid Park.

The midfielder revealed he and team-mate Filipe Morais argued over who would take the crucial kick.

Hardie said: "I pushed Filipe out of the way as he was pleading with me to hit it but as soon as the free-kick was awarded there was only one thing on my mind and that was to take it.

"I practice them a lot and it was a trademark one that I have in my locker. I scored a similar one against Dunfermline last season.

"It is my first goal in the SPL for six years since I scored for Partick Thistle against Kilmarnock. It was well worth the wait."

Hardie revealed he signed up at St Johnstone because he felt that Derek McInnes' side had what it takes to regain their place at the top table.

He said: "I decided to stay when Derek offered me a new deal because I felt we had the players to win the First Division and that would give me another crack at SPL football.

"That decision has been vindicated because I had offers from other sides in the First Division.

"It is great to be back and it was an equally good feeling to score an SPL goal again."

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HARDIE LUCK: Last-gasp scorer Martin Hardie gets a kiss from Saints team-mate Graham Gartland