St Johnstone are now without a win in eight Scottish Premiership games after losing 3-1 at Livingston.

The Perth side had lost six of their last seven, but led early on thanks to a composed finish from Joe Shaughnessy.

However, Livingston found an equaliser seven minutes before half-time through centre-back Craig Halkett's header.

Craig Sibbald completed the turnaround less than a minute into the second-half, before Scott Pittman made sure of the points in stoppage time.

Tommy Wright's side drop below Motherwell in to eighth in the league table, with Livingston moving to within a point of their opponents.

St Johnstone lacking a spark

It was not just St Johnstone who came in to this match in poor form. Livingston had just one win to their name in 2019 and had lost both previous fixtures against the visitors without scoring.

But the warning signs were there from early on that Livingston were up for this one, with Steve Lawson having an early effort tipped on to a post by Cammy Bell.

But St Johnstone took the lead against the run of play after 14 minutes. Sean Goss' corner led to a tussle at the back post before the ball fortuitously bounced at the feet of Joe Shaughnessy, who poked in.

From there, it was clear Wright's side would look to play on the counter, which they did successfully for a period of time, limiting Livingston to efforts from long-range, most of which were off-target.

That was until the 38th minute, when Alan Lithgow picked up the ball on the left and delivered a pin-point cross to centre-back partner Halkett, who beat Bell to the ball to head in to the empty net.

That was the last of the action in the first-half, with both sides presumably happy to go in to the break level. But one side came out ready for the second-half, and the other certainly did not.

Less than a minute after the restart, Scott Robinson sent a cross towards Sibbald, who rose highest to head past Bell and put the home side ahead.

St Johnstone were visibly shocked by the goal, struggling to string a few passes together in the following minutes and almost conceding again, with Sibbald firing over from inside the box.

Despite committing more players forward as time went on, the Perth side hardly threatened the Livingston goal, with Gary Holt's side comfortably dealing with anything sent their way.

And deep in to stoppage time, Lawson reacted quickest to a loose ball on the right, drove towards the box and picked out an unmarked Pittman, who fired past Bell from close range.

Sibbald's goal left St Johnstone shell-shocked

'Robinson makes difference' - analysis

BBC Scotland's John Barnes at the Tony Macaroni Arena

Holt spent the hour prior to kick off accepting congratulations on his reaching his 46th birthday, before witnessing his players giving him the ideal present. It is Livingston's second successive home win but only their second victory overall in their last 12 matches.

The return of Robinson as the main striker proved decisive. His desire to stretch the St Johnstone defence at every opportunity was evident.

Having taken the lead early in the second half, Livingston showed all the attributes that have served them well in reaching the top flight as they defended solidly to keep their visitors at bay.

Wright introduced Tony Watt, Michael O'Halloran and Blair Alston in the second period to try and retrieve the situation but it was to no avail for the Perth club, whose chances of a top-six finish are fading.

'Every goal seems to be a mistake' - reaction

Livingston manager Gary Holt: "To go a goal behind was disappointing, especially when we started the game well but we showed strength of character to come back.

"Today was probably not our best game overall in terms of playing football but we scored goals at crucial times and I'm pleased for the lads."

St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright: "There was nothing between the two sides except we made more mistakes than them and they punished us.

"We have to do better. Every goal seems to be a mistake. We've still got an outside chance [of making the top six], but not if we continue making mistakes."