LIVINGSTON manager Paul Hegarty says his find must find a level of consistency to stay in the title race, ahead of tomorrow afternoon's fixture with St Johnstone.

A poor start to last weekend's home match with Dundee resulted in a 2-1 defeat, with Livi picking up the pace in the second period before Leigh Griffiths' red card put an end to hopes of a comeback.

The week before, the Lions nearly let slip a three goal lead against Ross County, allowing the visitors to claw back two goals, before Griffiths' late strike sealed a 4-2 win.

"It would be nice to start the St Johnstone match like we did against Ross County two weeks ago and then maintain that level of performance," said Hegarty,. "We never seem to find a happy balance.

"We are either very good in the first half, then poor in the second, or vice versa. It would be good to be on an even keel across the full 90 minutes. We have to find consistency to win matches.

"Last weekend, it was just unfortunate that we lost a goal so early. It made it an uphill task. By all accounts, that was Dundee's best performance of the season. And they have great experience in their squad like Rab Douglas in goals and Colin Cameron in midfield, who ran the show last Saturday."

Livingston head to Perth looking for their first league victory over the Saints in six attempts, having gone the entire season 2007/08 and this campaign without a win against Derek McInnes side - save for a 2-1 win extra-time win in Co-operative Insurance Cup at Almondvale earlier this season.

"St Johnstone have drawn a lot of games of late, but they are still top of the league." added Hegarty, "I've seen them a couple of times and they are a good, experienced side with plenty of quality in their ranks.

"But it comes down to how both teams perform on the day. We all know that the league is very tight and a result is possible. We just have to go out there and try to edge it on the day."

Livi will be without the aforementioned Leigh Griffiths, after his red card for two bookings last weekend ruled him out of the trip to Perth. Sparky will make the trip to cheer on his team mates, but Hegarty is annoyed at the circumstances which caused his absence.

"Leigh has to realise when to contest decisions and when not to. But I can understand his plight. We were all uptight and trying to get a second goal. But you have to control your aggression.

"Leigh could have got sent off when he picked up his first booking. He has volleyed the ball into the crowd. If it had caught someone in the face, it would have been serious and he would have faced a straight red card.

"He was lucky to get away with that one. And he was told at the interval that he had to stay on the park, but that didn't happen.

"Jim Lauchlan is an experienced player and he has gone down under a challenge when we were going all out for the second goal. He's won them a free kick and Leigh has let his frustrations boil over.

"But we have to be cuter when that happens. It was a disappointment because Leigh has done ever so well in the team, but we have to keep 11 players on the park. The game is hard enough with a full team out there, let alone with ten."