St Mirren will not allow ’18 bad minutes’ at Kilmarnock to define season

St Mirren won’t allow “18 bad minutes” at Rugby Park to define their season, according to assistant manager Diarmuid O’Carroll.

The Buddies went into the international break on the back of a humbling 5-2 defeat by Kilmarnock in Ayrshire having led 2-0 at the interval.

A goal from Killie captain Kyle Vassell in the 61st minute sparked a comeback that ended with David Watson scoring a fifth in the 79th minute to leave the visitors stunned.

With three cinch Premiership fixtures remaining before the split, St Mirren are in fifth place, four points ahead of Hibernian and six ahead of seventh-placed Dundee who have an extra game to play.

Ahead of Saturday’s trip to eighth-placed Motherwell, O’Carroll reflected on the Rugby Park experience as he looked with optimism to a top-six finish.

He said: “It was a crazy, crazy second half but from our point of view 18 bad minutes doesn’t define our season.

“It was a challenge for us for 18 minutes and we look back, assess it, look at the goals, how we can do things better.

“But I think these boys have earned the right to have a bad half or 20 minutes. They have been so consistent all season and even if it was a 2-2 or a 2-1 win, we would assess the goals accordingly, we would look at where we could improve and what we could do better in terms of game management but it is one of those that you put to bed.

“It was probably good that it was a couple of weeks ago but the boys have been fantastic all season and the spirits are still really high.

“It is so close to the end, every game has something on it.

“Even from Motherwell’s point of view, everyone has got something they are aiming for and hoping for.

“It is 100 per cent a cliche but we are not looking past Motherwell.

“It is a big game for us, they are a very good side, playing good football.

“It will be a test for us. If we can get the win we will look at the table after it, but we are very happy what we have done up to this point and it is a case of finishing it in the last eight or nine games.”