Jim Goodwin admits St Mirren’s winless run can’t continue much longer after suffering another disappointing draw.
The Buddies huffed and puffed last night but couldn’t find a way past the stubborn Staggies, with the Paisley club’s streak of games without a victory now stretching to seven.
The Saints have also only scored once in their last five games and were guilty of passing up numerous opportunities to grab all three points against Ross County, picking up their eighth draw of the campaign already.
Goodwin insists his side simply must find a way to taste victory again ahead of a difficult run of fixtures up until the end of 2021, with a tricky trip to Pittodrie up first this Saturday afternoon.
He told Express Sport: “It’s incredibly frustrating – we’ve had 25 attempts on goal and I doubt if anyone who played tonight will have created as many chances.
“But it’s our Achilles heel that we’re not taking enough of them.
“I’m not going to throw anyone under the bus here, because it’s not all about the
strikers.
“Yes, they’re the ones judged on goals, but anyone can get on the end of a ball into the box and we’ve had ten or 11 corners and countless other crosses.
“That’s 16 games now and eight draws, which tells its own story.
“I feel extremely disappointed that this is another game we could have won but didn’t.
“If I’m going to put a positive spin on the result, it’s that we were excellent in the second half.
“But to win games of football you have to score goals.”
The Buddies boss knew how important a win was to St Mirren’s top-six hopes last night and acted accordingly, throwing striker Kristian Dennis up front alongside Eamonn Brophy in a bid to increase the hosts’ firepower.
The Saints had a pre-kick off injury boost with Scott Tanser passed fit to start, with Richard Tait moving into the back three in place of suspended skipper Joe Shaughnessy.
Playmaker Jamie McGrath started just behind the front two, with Alan Power and Connor Ronan anchoring the midfield.
It was the Staggies who went closest to breaking the deadlock in the opening five minutes when Blair Spittal’s deflected strike from the edge of the box sailed just inches over the bar with Jak Alnwick already wrong-footed on the floor.
Ross County skipper Jack Baldwin then passed up an easy header at the back post from the resulting corner as St Mirren tried to settle into the match.
All the action was at the Buddies end though, with Dominic Samuel pouncing on a sclaffed Charles Dunne clearance before racing in on goal.
Alnwick came to Dunne and Saints’ rescue, anticipating Samuel’s shot brilliantly to tip around the post.
Tanser had the Paisley side’s first chance of note when he cut inside and blasted well over the bar from the edge of the box, with the ball almost ending up in the car park.
Spittal was next to try his luck for the Staggies, arrowing a powerful strike on goal that Alnwick did well to hold at the first attempt.
St Mirren’s makeshift defence was looking shaky in the early stages, with the visitors looking dangerous every time they entered the final third. Samuel blasted wide from close-range to fire yet another warning sign to the Paisley side.
The hosts’ midfield was also misfiring, with Connor Ronan guilty of gifting away possession on numerous occasions in the opening 20 minutes.
He almost made amends with a dipping long range volley that Ash Maynard-Brewer tracked well to hang on to.
St Mirren threatened to break through again when Dennis’ long ball released Brophy in behind the Staggies defence.
The striker missed the reverse run of Kyle McAllister altogether, with the chance eventually fizzling out.
Brophy was on target moments later as the Buddies grew into the game.
Alan Power picked out the Scotland international in space in the box, with his low drive desperately hacked off the line by Baldwin with the keeper beaten.
Ronan picked up a booking for a poor challenge right on the edge of the box, with the Saints’ faithful breathing a sigh of relief referee David Dickinson didn’t point to the spot.
The Buddies had the perfect chance to break the deadlock when Tanser’s cutback picked out Dennis in a dangerous position just outside the six-yard box. He missed the ball altogether with his first effort, with the striker also spurning his second bite at the cherry after the Staggies defender failed to clear his lines.
County defender Keith Watson went into the referee’s box after barging Dennis off the ball as the striker looked to break in behind.
A tepid first-half performance from the hosts was put out of its misery by the half-time whistle, with the Buddies requiring a much better performance after the break to have any chance of lifting all three points.
Jake Vokins went into the book early after the restart for hacking down Kyle McAllister as the winger raced down the right wing.
Saints started the second half more brightly than the first, with Ronan releasing Brophy down the left in acres of space.
Once again the striker picked the wrong option, deciding to ignore Dennis who was free in the middle before being squeezed out on the left of the box.
County passed up an excellent opportunity to take the lead when Samuel didn’t connect properly with a whipped cross from Joseph Hungbo.
The game was flowing from end to end, with Dennis spurning another close-range chance when he fired straight at Maynard-Brewer from eight yards out.
Ronan was next to try his luck as he curled a powerful effort goalwards that Maynard-Brewer did well to tip around the post.
The Staggies keeper was the busier of the two in the second half, somehow keeping out a deflected Richard Tait shot from point-blank range.
Ross Callachan was fortunate to escape a booking after scything down Ronan in the middle of the park, much to Goodwin’s disgust.
Tanser was next to waste a glorious opportunity, knocking over the bar from a promising position with the clock starting to tick down on the Buddies.
Goodwin threw Greg Kiltie on for Ronan as he looked for a creative spark in the closing stages.
He tested Maynard-Brewer shortly after his introduction, with the Staggies keeper tipping his effort over the bar as St Mirren continued to knock on the door.
Substitute Curtis Main should have finally broken the deadlock with ten minutes to go. He raced onto a clever through ball from Dennis but dithered as he approached the goal, with his shot eventually cleared to safety.
A superbly timed Power block halted Harry Paton in his tracks as he looked to seal all three points for the Staggies late on, with Jak Alnwick coming to St Mirren’s rescue with two superb saves in the space of 10 seconds.
With the Staggies enjoying an overload on the left wing, the former Newcastle man first denied Spittal brilliantly before jumping up to beat away David Cancola’s follow-up attempt.
Main fired weakly into the keeper’s arms in extra-time as St Mirren sought a winner, but in the end the hosts had to settle for just a point.
