No cutting edge left Goodwin frustrated

JIM GOODWIN admitted St Mirren had no answer to Dundee protecting their lead for 79 minutes.

The Paisley boss was frustrated by his men failing to turn possession into penetration.

One point from three games in seven days has stalled their top-six charge. They now sit eighth while Dundee remain 11th but have opened up a four-point gap on inactive bottom-club Ross County.

Goodwin (below) said: ‘We knew the first goal in a game like this would be massive and that if Dundee got it, they’d shut up shop.

‘They ran the clock down from the moment they got the goal and it became a very difficult and frustrating afternoon.

‘We couldn’t break them down. They got six, seven, eight behind the ball and we didn’t create enough clear-cut chances.

‘We could still be playing now and finding it hard to put the ball in the net. It’s extremely disappointing.

‘We had more possession of the ball and shots on target. All the stats line up in our favour but the one that matters is the score.

‘We conceded a really poor goal from our corner. We know Dundee are dangerous on the break with the pace of McMullan.

‘It was a decent strike from the kid but we shouldn’t be conceding like that.

‘One or two were a little below par, maybe with the third game of the week but we’re not looking for excuses.

‘We didn’t reach the levels of against Motherwell or the opening 25 minutes against Rangers.

‘In fairness, we tried but didn’t put enough quality in the box or get behind Dundee with key passes. It was one of those afternoons.’

James McPake is fearing a major injury blow for striker Cillian Sheridan, who was stretchered off on only his second start for the club.

‘He will go for a scan but it looks like a ruptured Achilles, which would be a real shame because he was excellent,’ said Dundee manager McPake.

‘He caused problems and we had joy getting down the sides of their back three with Cillian willing to do the hard yards and get us up the pitch.

‘We’ve seen them before, there was no one near him and it is a sore one for him and the club because he was starting to look a threat.

‘I’m gutted for him because you could see the threat he was causing them and he was getting fitter for us.’