Kyle: We must be far more ruthless

Scotland Under-21 star says Saints must learn to capitalise when chances fall their way

St Mirren’s Kyle Magennis has warned his teammates they need to do more in front of goal.

The Paisley side lost 2-1 at Ross County on Saturday as the visitors were made to pay for not taking more of their chances as the hosts bagged an injury- time winner through Marcus Fraser.

The stand- in skipper was crestfallen at the final whistle following two wins with Scotland Under-21s over in San Marino and Croatia last week. He is desperate for his club side to replicate that kind of form but insists they need to defend better at crucial times in matches.

The 21-year-old said: “I thought we were always in the game and to lose a goal like that in the last minute is not ideal.

“We should be doing anything we can to try and see the game out but unfortunately we didn’t so we need to take a look at that and hopefully improve for the next game. It was a good ball to be fair but we should still be defending better than that.

“The manager is as disappointed as all of us to lose a goal that late. It can’t happen again in the next few games.”

Magennis himself hit the woodwork twice with powerful longrange efforts and Saints’ only goal was Tony Andreu’s 72nd-minute equaliser from a tamely taken freekick.

County goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw spilled the ball into the net after Ross Stewart had put the home side ahead ten minutes earlier and Magennis says his team need to hit the target more regularly.

The Buddies face Hamilton Accies in Paisley this weekend as the club bids to push itself up the table.

“I was a bit unlucky but at the end of the day it’s not on target when it hits the post so I’ve just got to move on and hopefully I can score one next week,” he said.

“We need to take a lot more shots. We are getting into good areas but I think we just need to start pulling the trigger more – especially with the wind that could take the ball anywhere.

“Tony’s wasn’t the best of strikes but it’s gone in so it shows we need to be doing more of that.

“It was good to go away with Scotland and this isn’t the ideal way to round off the week but hopefully we can improve next week. It’s a big game at home so we need to go and try and take three points. We need to definitely take something.”