David Gray post-match Q&A after defeat by St Mirren

David, does it feel like at times you are in the same movie?

"Yes, I suppose so, on certain things. Firstly though, I would say that the first-half performance today was completely unacceptable. We were miles off it. Not just one player, a lot of players shying away from the ball, making mistakes, not taking the ball and then individual errors again.

"A lot of things that we've talked about previously, but also the lack of fight and belief probably in the first half was missing for me. St Mirren played as if they were a team that wanted to win the game, whereas we're a team that needs the points, needs to win the game. That was definitely my frustration at half-time, which is why I made a few changes to try and get back into the game.

"I thought the second half we had a bit more of a go, but it's very hard to draw on any positives today when you see the scoreline and the situation we find ourselves in and the first-half performance."

Particularly after that first half, do you now need players to stand up?

"Yes, definitely. I think it's a collective. It's everyone in it together still, obviously. But individually, you need to ask the question, are you doing enough? Are you taking enough responsibility and accountability?

"I've talked about it a lot, but at the same time, whether it's me or anybody else, it isn’t going to change between now and Christmas. This squad of players is the squad of players we've got. There's no point in feeling sorry for yourself. There's no point in hoping someone else is going to change it for us. It's up to us to turn it around as quickly as we can."

As a manager you’ve spoken about the situation not being good enough... how alarming is it to be talking about a lack of fight and belief?

"For the first half, it's the first time I've seen it this season, really. It's the first time I've come out and apologised to the fans, which I'll do now again. I apologise for the first-half performance, because I've not had to really do that.

"As much as we've been where we are in the league, there's always been a few positives to draw on. I think it's very hard to draw on any today, because of the situation we find ourselves in. I think that's probably the bit that, frustration is probably not the right word, it angers me the most, probably, because of the situation we find ourselves in."

You seem a bit surprised by that first-half performance?

"Yes, I think this is the first time we've been really, really poor in the first half. So many players were off it. So many players lacked the quality that they've shown, or decision-making. The only time we really had a bit of quality we hit the post. We had two or three occasions where we showed a little bit of quality, got to the final third and the delivery let us down.

"But as I say, that first half was just so unlike us for how we've been. A quick reminder as to the level we're operating at as well. If you do make the mistakes like we have done and we've been punished for them as of late, we've got punished for them again today."

During the game the fans were singing your name and having a go at the board. How worried are you that the board may change manager?

"I don't think worried or scared is the right way I feel about it. I fully understand the noise and rightly so, justifiably so, because of the situation we're in, where this club is at the moment. We've talked a lot about it being a new squad and I could come up with 101 excuses. But where we find ourselves isn't good enough and I know it's something I've said now for a number of weeks because of where we are.

"One thing I do know is until someone tells me differently, I'm going to try as hard as I can. I will continue to work as hard as I possibly can because no one's more frustrated than me. I also know what's in the group and what we can be. As I say, that first 45 minutes was so unlike us, but we delivered that so we need to bounce back as quickly as we can because the players aren't going to change between now and January, minimum. So, it's about everybody working as hard as we can and sticking together to make sure we get through this period. But the question you asked, I fully understand why you would ask it."

When you talk about January, do you think you need the transfer window to be able to make changes?

"I think we've got a squad of players here. I think I've been semi-consistent in team selection for a wee while. But right now, where we find ourselves, it's about every single player. I think even the subs coming on today all showed why they think they should be starting.

"So, I think it's down to everyone now. It's not a clean slate because we're not ripping everything up. I don't believe in that. I know what's in the group and the quality we have got, but we need to start showing it and we need to show it quickly."

Can you take anything at all from the frantic finale?

"One thing you would say then is that, as I said, it's hard to draw on the positives because of where we find ourselves and the result. But we did go right to the very end today. I think if we score the penalty on the hour mark, it changes the game again because you get momentum from that.

"We've been there ourselves when you're 2-0 up and you concede a goal the feeling of, right, we'll get the momentum on the front foot. We still had time to go and win the game from that point of view. The fact we missed the penalty probably deflates us a little bit for a period after that. But the players certainly kept going. They kept trying to do the right things. Obviously got the goal and then the little flurry at the end shows that they were willing to go right to the very end."

The being deflated, is that something that appears on the day or are you noticing something in training during the week?

"No, because if it was reflected during the week, I wouldn't put them in the team. I think that's sort of what I'm seeing in training. It's one thing doing it in training but it's a bit different when there are 20,000 people watching you or you're dealing with adversity or you're playing against an opponent who is not going to make it easy for you as well. That's half the battle.

"St Mirren are very well organised, they came here trying to win the game. They wanted to come here and win the game. They're not coming here thinking they're going to sit in. They came to try and win the game and based on their first-half performance and our first-half performance, they deserved to be in front and could have been in front by more."