Captain Jason Holt was proud of the effort on show from his team-mates as we were edged out of the Premier Sports Cup by Motherwell.
The Steelmen advanced to the last eight of the competition courtesy of Lukas Fadinger’s extra-time goal at McDiarmid Park.
While there was obvious disappointment, Jason was buoyed by how Saints handled themselves against Premiership opposition.
He said: “Obviously it is disappointing to lose after putting a lot of effort into the game. We knew it was going to be a difficult test against a good Motherwell side who look to dominate the ball.
“But I thought the boys emptied their tanks. We needed to be patient off the ball and work extremely hard, closing gaps and spaces so they couldn’t play through the lines.
“We were looking to win the ball high up and punish them if we won the ball. I thought we had some good steals in the first half but just needed more composure in the final third.
“Second half, I have a chance myself which I think I should do better with. I should score. We have another couple of half chances that, on another day, could have went our way.
“So overall there is disappointment but I’m proud of the effort the boys put in.”
Despite the slender defeat, Jason and the squad will quickly turn attention back to league business. Arbroath are the visitors to McDiarmid Park next Saturday.
He said: “The league is the most important thing for us this year and we have two home games coming up. Full focus is on Arbroath.
“Our first two fixtures in the league were difficult games, but the boys dealt with them extremely well. None of them will be easy so we need to be at it every week.
“We can’t take our foot off the gas at all. We need to keep standards high. It’s a good group so I know that will be the case.”
