St Johnstone head coach Simo Valakari: "What a day. It was a big day for the club, to see the Championship flag and play our first Premiership game in front of our fans.
"In terms of the football, our players played well today. We're playing against good players, a quality opponent, and they pushed us.
"Welcome to life in the Premiership, from nothing you are 3-2 down. Then you ask what's happening? We have been tested. This is a different level.
"But our players never gave up, they push and push and push. We always looked dangerous, took care of the defending. We never lost total control and went crazy. We wanted to attack, but in our way, and in the end we deserved to win.
"We played like this last year. It was important to win today because those three points will stay with us until the end of the season. We need to play to our strengths, and our strength is to play with the ball.
"We have so many good options from the bench, but what pleased me most was today was a real squad effort. Everyone contributed.
"I know there has a been a lot of talk, outside noise, where we are with [the squad]. We are not getting carried away, we know where we are and what we need to improve. There might be some suffering in front of us."