JOHN NEEDHAM has opened up on St Mirren's decision to cut the allocation of both Celtic and Rangers this season.

The Buddies have decided to give Glasgow's big two just one stand in oppose to last season when they were given both the away stand and the family stand.

The decision worked in Saints' favour last week as they picked up a historic win over Ange Postecoglou's Celts.

Discussing the decision, Needham told Renfrewshire Live Sport: “Results like that give everyone at the club a huge lift. I personally felt that it felt much more like a home game for us on Sunday. I heard lots of others around me at the ground say that too.

“None of our supporters had to move from the Tony Fitzpatrick stand. The noise certainly wasn’t as loud from the away support as it has been previously.

“In the past if we’d gone ahead against Celtic or Rangers, their fans would have roused their team and cheered them on from both ends. They didn’t have that advantage this time around. I like to think it helped our team, only having one stand of away supporters to face.

“It’s also about rewarding our own fans for their loyalty. We always welcome away fans, they help create the overall atmosphere. But the balance has to be right and at our home ground it has to be as positive in our favour as possible.

“Home advantage counts for a lot in sport, everyone knows that. There certainly were more home fans there than last time we played Celtic.

“We’re still working out the final financial impact, but the attendance comparisons were very encouraging. With the cost of tickets going up slightly as well this year, financially we’re hoping to break even.

“But this is just the start. Things don’t change overnight and we’re hoping the better atmosphere, and ultimately better results, will see our fans return in even greater numbers.

“Overall it felt like we didn’t give away our home advantage. Now it’s about trying to build from here.”