KILMARNOCK manager Steve Clarke demanded, and received, a positive reaction from his players in the wake of a lacklustre home defeat at the hands of Aberdeen.

But the contest was overshadowed by the failure of four St Johnstone players to make the kick-off, prompting a furious reaction from their manager, Tommy Wright.

With Richard Foster, Michael O’Halloran, Denny Johnstone and Chris Millar all posted missing after being caught-up an tailbacks caused by an accident on the A9, Wright was forced to quickly redraft his team lines. The quartet didn’t make it to the ground until late in the first-half.

Wright, whose side have slipped to seventh after this latest setback, listed on-loan Rangers attacker O’Halloran as an unused substitute but homegrown centre-back Liam Gordon and Irish striker Graham Cummins found themselves elevated to the starting XI at short notice.

Neither Wright or his assistant Callum Davidson appeared at the customary post-match press conference. But before the game the Northern Irishman admitted his preparations had been thrown into chaos, with the finger of blame being pointed firmly at his players, leaving open the possibility of disciplinary action being taken by the Perth club.

"Foster and O'Halloran haven't made it on time,” he told Radio Scotland.“We've had to make two changes before the game even starts. I've absolutely no sympathy for them. It's up to them to get in on time.

"They've got caught up in something which obviously isn't their fault, but other players made it from the same area. They won't be able to influence the game now.

"Ultimately, it's a player's responsibility to get to his place of work on time.”

While Saints striker Steven MacLean levelled Stuart Findlay’s early opening goal – his first in senior football – Eamonn Brophy struck to secure all three points and revive Killie aspirations of worming their way into the top six.

Clarke’s line-up was unaffected by the traffic chaos, with his squad making the journey from Ayrshire to lunch in Perth.

“Any bits of quality in the second half came from us and we probably just shaded it,” he said. “I have to be pleased with the response of my players, when you have a little pop at them as I did last week. I knew I had them with me. It was just constructive criticism and I detected an edge to the team in training.”

Saints, who had been idle the previous weekend, began ponderously and found themselves a goal behind in the 10th minute. It was entirely of their own making after keeper Zander Clark, at full stretch, was unable to keep a wayward back-pass from full-back Scott Tanser in play.

From the resultant corner kick, left back-Findlay rose to connect with a delivery from Dom Thomas.

Even then, midfielder Liam Craig, lingering by the upright, had an opportunity to spare their blushes but a fresh-air swipe allowed the close-range header to trundle into the net.

While first-half opportunities were rare for either team, two minutes from the break, MacLean’s poaching instincts saw him steal in at the front post for an equaliser, powering home a header from Blair Alston’s driven cross.

In the 66th minute, Brophy’s persistence paid dividends, with Stephen O’Donnell picking out his colleague’s penalty-box movement and the striker tucking away a 12-yard finish to belatedly open his Killie account following a summer switch from Hamilton.

Before limping out of the fray with cramp, the match winner had a penalty-kick plea rejected by John Beaton, after being upended by Steven Anderson, but the referee spared his blushes by deciding keeper Clark had recovered to touch a shot wide when the striker appeared to have missed with the target at his mercy.

In the closing minutes, adding to his manager’s sense of frustration, Saints substitute David Wotherspoon was out of luck with a smartly struck shot which rebounded from the post.