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Stephen Robinson knows points mean prizes but admits he is full of pride in St Mirren’s performances. The Buddies boss insists he couldn’t be critical of his players’ efforts in Saturday’s 1-0 Premiership defeat to Aberdeen. A controversial afternoon was settled in the sixth minute of added time when Marko Lazetic struck for the Dons at the SMiSA Stadium. Saints had seen an Alex Gogic goal disallowed and wing-back Jayden Richardson sent-off by that point -— both following VAR interventions — with Robbo red-carded by referee Lloyd Wilson after the final whistle. It was a real kick in the teeth for the Buddies who have now suffered back-to-back league defeats and sit seventh in the standings. However, Robbo is adamant his troops are turning in displays which are good enough to achieve positive results. The Northern Irishman said: “As a performance, considering the disparity between the two teams, I thought we were the better team throughout against a side that has a huge budget. There didn’t look like there was a lot of difference. “I thought we built well and had lots of possession of the ball but just didn’t have that end product — when we did, the goal was disallowed. “That’s disappointing because we have a lot of pace on the bench. If that goal stands, Aberdeen have to come out and can’t just play on the counter attack. “Any chances they had came from our indecision or sloppy play from us giving the ball away. For us, it’s about turning performances into results. It’s our fault that we don’t come away from here with a point. “The performances against the top sides have been excellent — we’ve had one poor performance and that was against Kilmarnock. “We dominated large periods of the game and I thought our starting XI was excellent, while our subs were dictated to by going down to 10 men. Perhaps we didn’t get the impact we wanted from them but it was very difficult for them coming on. “Fans that don’t go to the game will only see the end result, which is what matters, but I’m really happy with the performance and it’s hard to be critical of the players.” Saints yesterday mulled over the Dons defeat at their Ralston training base as they begin to look ahead to the weekend trip to Dundee United. Robbo said he “would doubt it very much” if there was anything that could be done about his red card which will leave him watching from the main stand at Tannadice. There was a plan to study the footage relating to Richardson’s dismissal in terms of a possible appeal — as it stands, he will miss the games against United and then Hearts next Wednesday night. Robbo also opened the door for wingers Jalmaro Calvin and Malik Dijksteel to get more minutes and was encouraged by striker Dan Nlundulu’s first start in the black-and-white stripes. “Jayden has been brilliant for us,” he added. “I have not given Jalmaro a chance yet but he will get it in the coming weeks because he is coming good now, Malik as well. I thought Dan did well. There is a lot more to come from him.” Meanwhile, Saints have sold over 7,000 tickets for next month’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final with Motherwell at Hampden. Don't miss the latest Renfrewshire headlines – you can sign up to our free daily newsletter here
