Donsdoingonlymakes us want to do better...
STEPHEN McGinn today revealed St Mirren’s mauling by Aberdeen in the William Hill Scottish Cup has simply made them even hungrier to play in the top flight.
The Ladbrokes Championship leaders were fancied by many to give their Premiership opponents a serious scare at Pittodrie on Saturday. But the Paisley club got off to a disastrous start when Stelios Demetrious gifted the home team a penalty which Adam Rooney converted.
And a first-half Ryan Christie double and a stunning Gary Mackay-Steven strike early in the second killed off their hopes of causing an upset.
But Buddies midfielder McGinn insisted that playing against Derek McInnes’s charges in the televised match in front of a 9,858-strong crowd has just given Jack Ross’s men a taste of the big time.
“We want be coming back to places like this next season,” he said. “It’s the top level and arenas like Pittodrie are you want to be playing at.
“We knew we would have to carry a bit of luck, defend properly and not lose goals at bad times – but we did a couple of those things.
“Aberdeen are a team who can punish you in that way if you make mistakes. We knew the danger of making mistakes and Aberdeen showed why they have been the second best team in the country.
“This is the second-toughest draw that could have come out because of what they have done over the last few years. They are a good side. They take the game away from you before you realise it.
“During the week we talked about it, about how we can’t make individual errors, and that’s what we did. So for as good as we looked going forward at times I think defensively we have to be better when we’re playing better sides.”
McGINN is confident the St Mirren players’ won’t be affected by the heavy defeat when they return to league action away to thirdplace Dunfermline at East End Park on Friday night.
“We won’t just write this off,” he said. “We have professional pride and don’t want to lose 4-1 to anyone. “It’s not nice, but what we have done this season is bounce back from defeats with wins.
“You have to try to deal with setbacks in a positive way so that’s what we’ll try to do.
“The manager is good when we lose, he keeps things positive and we will be ready to go again on Monday.”
Ross was pleased with how St Mirren responded to falling two goals behind in the first half and pulled a goal back through striker Gavin Reilly.
He also predicted that his players, especially the youngsters in his side, would benefit from their run-out against the team which has finished runners-up in the Premiership three seasons running.
“It was a good learning experience for us, individually and as a team,” he said. “The players will be better for it.
“There’s a number of young players in that group. The message to them is hopefully they will get to come back here better equipped for that challenge.”
Ross is also confident that St Mirren, who are eight points clear of Dundee United in the Championship, can bounce straight back from the defeat with an away win in Fife on Friday night.
“I have absolute faith and trust in this group,” he said. “Every time we have had a setback in the league this season, which they hasn’t been many of, we’ve always responded with win.
“So I have no doubt they will do that. I am certainly not downbeat and that’s the message for the players as well.
“We have a good game to recover in against Dunfermline on Friday night.”