It takes guts to step up and take a decisive penalty late in a game with your team trailing by just one goal and desperate to pick up a first point on the road.
And having missed that vital spot-kick, it takes even more bravery to come up to the press room and speak openly about that gutting moment.
That’s exactly what St Mirren striker Tony Andreu did at Pittodrie after his penalty miss consigned the Buddies to a worrying eighth consecutive defeat on the road this campaign.
The confident Frenchman knows just how important a moment it was with the Dons hanging on to a 2-1 lead with time running out.
“I’ve had three good chances today and I didn’t take them,” a gutted Andreu told Express Sport.
“The first one, the keeper made a great save after one minute.
“Then there was a volley where I could have maybe taken a touch in the penalty box.
“The penalty is obviously the hardest one for me to take. Especially with the rebound.
“I could have done better with it, for sure.
“I’m disappointed. I take responsibility for the team, it’s my mistake and I feel like I let the fans down. I apologise to the fans because I thought we deserved better than that.
“Not winning, but I think a draw would have been fair. It was at the end of my feet and I didn’t make it.”
After matching third-place Aberdeen for large spells of the match, St Mirren were left still searching for their first positive result on the road this season after another narrow 2-1 loss.
Andreu feels that his teammates have to stay positive after being unlucky not to have come away with anything to show for their plucky performance.
He said: “We had really good possession and were really good on the counter.
“We kept the ball really well, created chances, so it was pretty even.
“It’s so frustrating for us. But we have to stay positive. If we start thinking negatively things will only get harder.
“It’s been the story of our season away from home. It’s down to us to change that.”
While Saints return to the Simple Digital Arena on Wednesday when they take on Motherwell , Andreu knows his team have to start picking up points away from Paisley soon.
He feels just one positive result on the road can end the current barren spell.
Andreu added: “We are in a spiral at the moment when we go away. That’s eight games away now without a point.
“There are so many of these games where we should have taken a point, at least.
“Everything seems to be against us when you’re on this kind of run so I really hope once we get one point that it can turn.
“We’re working hard to do that and that’s why it’s even sorer every time we lose.”
