Callum Davidson was pleased with his Saints squad after a 3-0 defeat to Rangers at Ibrox but felt they got undone by a stupid mistake for the free kick for Borna Barisic's opener.
The Croat's pinpoint free-kick opened the scoring after 21 minutes before the half-time break was sandwiched by a late strike from Ryan Kent and a Joe Aribo header four minutes after the restart.
But St Johnstone, playing their first game in 11 days after Aberdeen's Covid controversy shelved their match against the Dons at the weekend, impressed in the first half.
Their gaffer said as much and praised his players for trying until the final whistle - but wasn't pleased with David Wotherspoon's foul on Alfredo Morelos that led to the opening goal.
Davidson said: “I was really pleased with the first half – or should I say first 45 minutes, because we lost a goal in the 46th.
“There was one lapse of concentration from David when he gave away a free-kick for the first goal. You can’t give away stupid free-kicks at Ibrox. He knows that himself.
“I thought we limited Rangers to very few chances in that first half but we went in 2-0 down.
“The message was to not concede early doors in the second half but we lost a goal to a set-play and the game was over.
“What I would say is my players never gave up.
“You could see that they were running about and creating chances right up until the end.
“I’m pleased with a lot of things and I can’t be too disappointed."
