Craig Levein believes Nicky Clark’s late equaliser against Livingston could be looked back on as a crucial moment in St Johnstone’s season.

Saints jumped to ninth in the cinch Premiership after Clark nodded home with three minutes remaining to cancel out Andrew Shinnie’s opener.

The McDiarmid Park boss admitted it was a game that was unlikely to live long in the memory but insisted the end result could be significant in his side’s quest to avoid the drop.

“I think in the end it will be a good point,” Levein said.

“Two teams sitting at the bottom of the table who are obviously concerned about their league positions and who realise if it comes down to a scrap then they have to roll their sleeves up and really have a go.

“I think what you saw was the outcome of that pressure, there wasn’t much good football or calm thinking going on and it was a real fight.”

Levein was delighted for Clark, who came up with his sixth goal of the season to drag St Johnstone level.

It was the striker’s third game in the space of a week – his most consistent run of matches in what has been an injury-plagued season.

“Playing Nicky was a big one for me because I was really concerned about him breaking down,” Levein added.

“But if we can get quality balls into the box he’ll score goals.

“We had a lot of crosses but they were poor until Graham Carey put a great one in and then you wouldn’t want anyone else on the end of it other than Nicky.

“That’s what he does, he scores goals, he’s done it his whole career.”

David Martindale is adamant his Livingston team has what it takes to survive the drop, despite being denied the chance to move within four points of nearest rivals Ross County.

It was a familiar tale for Livi, who have now conceded important goals in each of their last three away league fixtures.

“It’s difficult, the players are fighting tooth-and-nail and anyone can see how much the players are putting into the games,” Martindale said.

“I’d never question their heart and their spirit, from matchday one to where we are just now, I think that has been there in abundance.

“The players are gutted in there, they’ve been gutted most games when they don’t pick three points up.

“But I’m trying to explain – and I’m not trying to come over delusional – if you’re 1-0 down and you score the late goal then it changes the narrative to a great point.”

St Johnstone denied Livingston a crucial win at McDiarmid Park as Nicky Clark’s late goal snatched them a 1-1 draw in a game littered with stoppages.

It looked as if the visitors were set to emerge victorious following Andrew Shinnie’s first-half opener, but Clark glanced home with three minutes left to give Saints a share of the spoils.

There was 20 minutes of stoppage time across the course of the match, with injuries preventing the game from having any sort of rhythm.

The hosts moved ahead of Aberdeen and up to ninth in the table, while the Lions remain bottom, though they have cut the gap between themselves and Ross County to six points.

Adama Sidibeh made a welcome return to the St Johnstone bench following a spell in hospital after collapsing on the pitch at the end of the 2-0 defeat to St Mirren a week ago.

There was little in the way of goalmouth action in a scrappy opening to proceedings and it took until the 25th minute for the first chance.

A loose pass from Dan Phillips was seized upon by Dan MacKay, but the Saints defence recovered just as the winger looked to get his shot away.

The visitors went close when Shinnie’s header from Sean Kelly’s free-kick dropped narrowly wide of the target.

Livingston were rewarded for their pressure when they broke the deadlock eight minutes before half-time.

Kelly’s corner was glanced on by Michael Devlin and Shinnie was on hand to brilliantly hook the ball beyond goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov from six yards.

Given the stop-start nature of the opening 45 minutes, it was little surprise when the fourth official indicated there would be eight minutes of added time – and that pattern was to continue as Diallang Jaiyesimi limped off to be replaced by Graham Carey.

St Johnstone finally mustered their first attempt on target in the final minute of stoppage time. Matt Smith picked out Clark who nodded weakly into the grateful arms of Shamal George when he really should have found the net.

It was Livi who began the second half the brighter, with Mitov twice called into action in the early stages.

The Bulgarian pulled off a brilliant stop to keep out MacKay’s swerving effort before diving low to grasp Cristian Montano’s shot.

David Keltjens’ cross narrowly evaded Stevie May as Saints chased a way back into the match, but their momentum continued to be interrupted by stoppages.

Kurtis Guthrie passed up a glorious opportunity to put the game out of reach of their hosts when he picked the pocket of Andy Considine and then raced clear on goal, only to then drag his angled drive past a post.

It was a moment the visitors would come to rue as Clark came up with a late leveller – nodding home Carey’s pinpoint delivery.

A further 10 minutes of time added on at the end of the second half presented both sides with an opportunity to claim victory, but Guthrie was hesitant at a crucial moment before laying the ball to Jason Holt who blazed over.

Andrew Shinnie is relishing his leadership role within the Livingston squad after he signed on earlier this week for a third season with the West Lothian club.

The 33-year-old joined the Lions in 2021 and manager David Martindale sees the former Inverness, Birmingham and Luton midfielder as one of the senior figures in a dressing room that is about to lose captain Nicky Devlin – among others – under freedom of contract this summer.

Shinnie, who penned a one-year extension to the end of next term, is aware he might not be the first name on the team-sheet every week, but he is happy to help guide his younger colleagues.

“We’ll probably lose a couple of important players but Davie and the staff will hopefully recruit some gems like they normally find, and we’ve also got the nucleus of a strong squad that will still be here,” said Shinnie.

“As a senior pro, I want to really help the group kick on next year, on and off the park.

“I’ve spoken about it with Davie and I know I might not play as regularly as I’d have wanted when I was younger but I’ll still be doing my all to be on the pitch every week and if not, I’ll be there to try to push the boys on and support them in every way.”

Asked if leadership came naturally to him, Shinnie – whose brother Graeme is the captain of Aberdeen – said: “Probably, yes, but I’ve definitely developed it since I came to Livingston.

“There are quite a lot of young players here so I’ve taken that onus on. Davie’s helped me with it as well, he’s put a lot of responsibility on me, so I definitely think I’ve developed it.

“I think boys feel comfortable pulling me for little chats if they need advice or whatever, and I’ve quite enjoyed that side of it since I came here.

“You need to take that ownership as a more older, senior player to be there for the group and try and be a calming influence at rough times because football can be difficult. You need to be level-headed.”

Shinnie is currently trying to guide his team-mates through their toughest spell of the season. The Lions head to Kilmarnock on Saturday on the back of a run of eight defeats in 11 games in all competitions.

“We were really disappointed to miss out on the top six after having such a good two-thirds of the season,” said Shinnie. “We’ve tailed off a bit at the wrong time which has killed us.

“We’re still a couple of points ahead in seventh and we want to finish best of the rest (top of the bottom six).

“Killie are another team fighting for their lives and they have a great home record so it’s going to be hard. It’s another challenge for us.”