Livingston 1-0 St Mirren: Jim Goodwin says players in tears after semi-final loss
- Published
Manager Jim Goodwin says his players were left distraught by the loss
St Mirren players were "lying on the floor" of the dressing room in tears after their agonising Scottish League Cup semi-final defeat by Livingston, says manager Jim Goodwin.
The Paisley side fell behind to an early Scott Robinson header and failed to find an equaliser.
Goodwin praised his side's strong second-half performance, but was left gutted by the loss.
"We're bitterly disappointed," the Irishman told BBC Scotland.
"The boys are lying on the floor in there. There's tears and a lot of sorrow because we had a big chance to get to the final.
"I asked them to come off having not let anyone down and have no regrets. There are regrets for not getting to the final, but there's no regrets about the amount of effort they put in."
Goodwin lamented St Mirren's luck as they spurned good chances to level at Hampden and give themselves the opportunity of meeting St Johnstone in next month's final.
He was also frustrated at his side not being awarded a penalty in the first half for Nicky Devlin's challenge on Joe Shaughnessy.
"We watched it back at half-time with the analyst and it's a clear penalty kick," he said.
"The one in the second half is not a penalty, big Jon [Obika] has a great bit of skill but unfortunately goes over a little bit too easy. I thought the referee got that one right."
St Mirren 'left everything' on pitch - analysis
Former St Mirren striker Steven Thompson on BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound
St Mirren left everything out there and, if it had gone to extra time, you would have backed them to win it. But credit to Livingston - some of their defending was brilliant. St Mirren didn't take their big chances when they came.
Former Rangers winger Neil McCann on BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound
There's a pride there from Jim Goodwin because he knows his side didn't just give up and surrender. His next fight is the league. Can they get top six? That's the next challenge to throw down.