Still cause for optimism despite 'gut punch' of late defeatpublished at 11:47 BST 21 October
Mark Jardine
Fan writer

I'm a somewhat philosophical fitba fan, I try not to get too wound up by the bad stuff and wholeheartedly seek to make the absolute most of the good bits. I can't imagine any other way to rationally function as a St Mirren fan.
Saturday's last-minute gut punch of a defeat to Aberdeen was painful, there's no hiding that. However, I'm willing to attribute this misfortune to some high stakes universal balancing act.
Aberdeen FC have been the source of much joy in our recent past. Toyosi Olusanya's 97th-minute winner in 2024, cup finals and promotions aside, is probably the most I've celebrated anything within the confines of a football stadium.
Our 3-0 Pittodrie drubbing the previous December, courtesy of Mark O'Hara, Jonah Ayunga and Greg Kiltie, made that frosty pre-Hogmanay trip worth the effort. We've repeated each of those scorelines again since, all against richly-budgeted sides that on paper should be putting us in our place.
I've had more fun at the Dons' expense these past few years than could have been hoped for, never mind expected.
With all of this "get it round yeez, haha" credit resting in our collective accounts, there was bound to be a course correction at some point.
And, if you're going to take a sore one, I'll begrudgingly accept it arriving courtesy of a 96th-minute Berbatov-esque turn and strike that arrived in Scotland via AC Milan.
There are grounds for tough self-examination at Ralston this week; a needless and petulant red card, unnecessary proximity to a goalkeeper saving Dimitar Mitov's blushes, losing your man deep in injury time and an arguable lack of common sense in allowing that 96th-minute break in the first place.
However, there are 90-odd minutes of decent performance in there to reflect on too, and cause for cautious optimism on the road to Tannadice next weekend.