Weary Hearts held firm at the end of a gruelling week to close out an unconvincing 2-1 home win over St Johnstone and climb to second in the Scottish Premiership. The Jambos — buoyed by their midweek Conference League play-off triumph away to Rapid Vienna — were good value for their two-goal lead after James Wilson's early strike was followed by a second that went down as an own goal from Saints debutant Enes Alic. But the hosts faded after the break and they were left clinging on in the closing stages after Ruari Paton pulled one back for the visitors early in the second half.

Hearts boss Wouter Vrancken made four changes to the side that started in Austria on Wednesday with Christian Borchgrevink, Tomas Magnusson, Laurent Mendy and Sabah Kerjota coming in. American forward JJ Williams was named among the substitutes. Saints, playing their first match in three weeks, handed a debut to Bosnian left-back Alic.

The breakthrough came in the ninth minute when Josh Mc Pake seized on a loose pass from Zach Mitchell and slipped a perfectly weighted ball into the path of Wilson, who drilled beyond Toby Steward. Hearts doubled their lead in the 39th minute when a combination of Mendy and Alic bundled in Jordi Altena's free-kick. Saints got back in the game in the 48th minute when Paton outmuscled Altena to latch on to Sam Stanton's ball and drove past Beau Reus. Saints piled on pressure in the closing stages, but Vrancken's side did just enough to make it back-to-back league wins.