St Johnstone's defensive struggles have been laid bare by a run of 12 consecutive Scottish Premiership games without a clean sheet. The Perth side, currently seventh in the table with seven points from six matches, have conceded in every league outing this season. Their last shutout in the top flight came before a 15-game streak ended in December 2012. The team's recent form shows one win, one draw, and three defeats from their last five games, a sequence that includes a 2-1 victory over Hibernian and last weekend's 1-0 loss to Celtic. The team's next fixture is a home match against Falkirk, where they will be aiming to improve on their current total of 7 points and a goal difference of -1. You can review their full schedule on our fixtures page.
Josh Fowler has been responsible for half of St Johnstone's league goals this term, scoring four of their eight. His double, including a penalty, secured the win against Hibernian earlier this month. With nine goals conceded the team's negative goal difference shows the need for greater defensive solidity to complement their attacking output.
Saturday's visitors Falkirk arrive at McDiarmid Park with their own challenges, having failed to win in their last five away league fixtures. Their most recent victory on the road was a 3-2 success at Motherwell back in April. However, after beating Livingston in February, they have a chance to secure back-to-back top-flight wins over promoted sides for the first time since 2007.
This weekend's match marks the first Premiership meeting between the clubs since the 2009-10 campaign, a season where St Johnstone avoided defeat in all four encounters.
Further reading: bbc.co.uk
