David Gray struggling to find positives after St Mirren loss

What did you make of that performance today?

“It was certainly a game of two halves, that’s for sure. And, as soon as you see the result, the performance becomes irrelevant. Because to lose the game 3-0 is unacceptable for us. That’s on everything."

What in particular was unacceptable?

“If I try to strip it back and look at the first-half performance, we created enough chances to be in front in the game, so there are a lot of positives to take from that. The fact that we’re creating the chances is great – and we limited them to very little.

“To then concede straight after half-time, that is very avoidable, the goal we lose. I thought there was a softness to the goals we lost. And not just one thing but three or four things in the moves to the goals we lose.

“The second goal is just a genuine mistake, which happens in games. Then the reaction from that, to go and lose the third goal in the manner we did, it was so avoidable from the top end of the pitch – there were three or four things we could have done to affect that better.

“So there are definite areas where we can’t accept that. Especially the third goal, we shouldn’t lose that – because then the game is gone. We huffed and puffed at times, had a few half chances. But the damage had been done at that point.

“At 1-0, the chances we created, we had to take. We had a massive chance to make it 1-1. You need to take that chance, which would have given us an opportunity to kick on again.

“Overall, they were more clinical in their box. They defended their own box better than we did. That was why it was 3-0.

Are you concerned at the soft nature of the goals conceded?

“Of course, it’s a concern. It’s a concern when you lose goals. It’s not something I’ve seen in the games we’ve played so far. Take the second goal out of it, because that’s a misplaced pass.

"But look at the other goals: one comes straight after half-time. You look at it and there are three or four mistakes leading to that goal. I tell the players all the time not to let one mistake become two mistakes. Because three mistakes usually results in a goal. That was evident today, as you saw."

Does the result show that further work is needed in the transfer window?

"I think there's more work to be done all the time. Regardless of players coming, regardless of any of that, the performance that we had - especially in the first half - showed that what was in the squad is good enough. I think we need to be better in both boxes. I'd be much more concerned if we weren't creating any chances, we just need to be more clinical when they do come, because at this level we're not going to get five, six, seven chances to convert. That was evident today.

What can you tell us about the VAR issue?

"The referee was very clear. Unfortunately, it failed a couple of times. He was updating us on what was going on, certain cameras weren't working at times and he basically just told me and Stephen [Robinson, St Mirren manager] the protocol that needed to be followed. That's what happened with that. It was absolutely no reflection on what happened in the second half as it was the same for both teams. 

What side of you did the players see at full-time?

"I think that's something that stays between me and the players. I don't think that's got anything to do with anyone else. I think it's pretty clear from the feeling in the dressing room after the match that they know that it wasn't good enough. Moving forward, the standards that we set in pre-season, the standards that we talk about and the expectations of this football club, we fell below in the second half. It's something we need to rectify very quickly because it doesn't get any easier in the coming weeks, that's for sure.

How important is it that confidence and belief doesn't dip this early on?

"It's very important that it doesn't dip. At this moment in time it's very hard to take. I'm trying to be positive but it's very hard to be positive with the manner of the defeat. To lose 3-0 is difficult to take and unacceptable. Once we come in on Monday morning and reassess it, it's about how can we get better going forward."