Saints striker knows he blew it but insists they can still triumph

Graham Cummins is desperate to make amends for wasting a glorious chance to grab St Johnstone a Europa League lifeline.

With time ticking away and Lithuanians FK Traka i defending a 2-1 lead in Perth, the striker got on the end of Blair Alston’s cross just six yards from goal. The target was at his mercy but the Irishman’s shot was blocked by keeper Ignas Plukas. That leaves the odds stacked against Tommy Wright’s men heading into Thursday’s return and Trakai are now hot favourites to advance to a clash with IFK Norrkoping of Sweden, who beat Kosovans Prishtina 5- 0 this week. Cummins didn’t duck responsibility for his miss. And wi th St e ven MacLean out of the game in Vilnius as his knee problem could flare up again on the plastic pitch, the former Preston, R o c h d a l e a nd Exeter man is set to lead from the front. The 29- year- old admitted: “We were all def lated after the game, especially me. “I had a great chance late on and should have scored an equaliser. “I tried to make contact with the cross and stuck out my left leg but the keeper made a good save. It was a bad miss though and no one needs to tell me how bad it was.

“The lads haven’t said a word to me about it. I just have to get on with it, there’s no point dwelling on it. But I feel I’ve let the team down although there is a chance to put it right in Lithuania.

“I have to try to redeem myself as it’s only half-time in the tie. We have to go there and score two goals.

“I always put an onus on myself, whether or not Macca is playing. Every player goes out to do a job for the team. You always think that this is your chance.

“You have to do your job no matter who is on the pitch next to you.”

Cummins posed problems for a back l ine that looked vulnerable in the air, with defender Joe Shaughnessy levelling an early strike f r om Russian Maksim Maksimov, before a wonder goal from Va idotas Silenas four minutes later deflated the Perth crowd.

The striker said: “We got a lot of joy from diagonals and headers. So that’s maybe something we can work on.”

Cummings also had a goal chalked off in Per th for impeding the Trakai goalie.

He said: “Joe headed it and I just jumped for the ball. I didn’t even see the keeper who hit me as much as I hit him.”

Cummins feels Saints have learned from the first-leg loss, adding: “We know more about them now. We didn’t know quite what to expect at the start and you could tell they have been playing competitively.

“They kept the ball well and it took us a while to get going.”

While it’s advantage Trakai, Cummins insisted: “The tie is not over. I believe we can go over there and score two goals.

“We’re not going out thinking we’ll just see out 90 minutes and start looking towards the new league season.” The plastic pitch in Vi lnius may have ruled out MacLean but Cummins claims it won’t bother the rest of Wright’s squad.

He said: “The pitch is artificial but they are all different. I just hope it is decent.

“We have a training pitch here we can work on with the next leg in mind.”

New arrival Stefan Scougall made an impression coming off the bench, smashing a 20-yarder off the post.

A nd C ummi n s w a s impressed with the former Sheffield United playmaker.

He said: “You saw glimpses of what Stefan can do when he came on in the second half.

“He is an intelligent player and will be a big asset.”