St Mirren

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St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson told BBC Scotland: "It's so frustrating. Arguably we played better than when we beat them 4-0. We missed four chances from three yards out.

"Then it's a poor decision at the end which leads to the penalty.

"I'll take what I can out of it, the boy's spirit still has to be positive. We haven't become a bad team overnight.

"The performance will be masked by the result as always, but we have to take our chances to win football matches

"If you don't take chances from three yards out, you don't deserve it. We left ourselves open. It's a little spell, a three week period where things have gone against us.

"There's still a lot of confidence and belief in the camp. We have to be more clinical."

Andrew Petrie, BBC Sport Scotland

It might not have been too big a surprise for Steven Robinson that his side couldn't stick the ball in the back of the onion bag. That's now three games and 361 minutes without a goal.

But what can the manager do when his side all but walk it in, and still miss from a few yards out?

They look a little low on confidence, a million miles from the beginning of the season, and they need to turn it round soon if that start is to mean something.

Marcus Fraser and Alex Gogic both impressed at the back, but they were badly let down by Charles Dunne right at the end.

St Johnstone: Mitov, Brown, McGowan, Gordon, Robinson, Gallacher, Phillips, Smith, Kucheriavyi, Carey, Jaiyesimi.

Substitutes: Richards, May, Kane, Jephcott, Olufunwa, Sprangler, Turner-Cooke, Costelloe, Franczak.

St Mirren: Hemming, Fraser, Gogic, Dunne, Flynn, O'Hara, Boyd-Munce, Tanser, Jamieson, Ayunga, Kiltie.

Substitutes: Urminsky, Bolton, Small, Baccus, Olusanya, McMenamin, Nahmani, Greive, Mandron.

• St. Johnstone have only lost one of their last 10 Scottish Premiership home games against St. Mirren (W6 D3), a 0-1 defeat in April 2022.

• St. Mirren have only lost one of their last eight league games against St. Johnstone (W3 D4), a 3-0 away loss in September 2022.

• St. Johnstone have won two of their last three league games played on a Wednesday (D1), more than their previous 20 such matches beforehand (W1 D8 L11). The Saints could win successive Wednesday matches in the Scottish Premiership for the first time since February 2020.

• St. Mirren have won just one of their last 10 midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games (D4 L5), a 3-1 win at Aberdeen in February last season. Including this game at St. Johnstone, eight of their last nine midweek league games have been away from home.

• St. Mirren’s Mikael Mandron has scored three goals in two Scottish Premiership appearances against St. Johnstone, including a brace for the Buddies in October.

St Johnstone defender Andy Considine is rated “touch and go” by manager Craig Levein after missing Sunday’s defeat by Celtic with a heel injury. Nicky Clark (calf), Cammy MacPherson (thigh) and Drey Wright (knee) remain out.

St Mirren defender Ryan Strain is out for three months with a groin injury.

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Despite slipping to fourth after defeat to Rangers, Stephen Robinson is confident St Mirren will pick up points before the festive schedule as he praised his side for raising expectations.

The loss at Ibrox was the Buddies' fourth consecutive defeat on the road, but Robinson was encouraged by the way his side used the ball and believes they can get better results if they show more conviction in their pressing.

They now face another away game against St Johnstone on Wednesday.

"We are certainly not going to be judged by games against Rangers," Robinson told St Mirren TV. "We went there to try to get a positive outcome but we didn't.

"We have three games now where we believe we can get a really good amount of points from.

"The group of boys have been fantastic for us, absolutely fantastic. Everyone needs to remember that this club was £1.6million in debt when I took over (the club made a £1.6million loss in the 2021-22 campaign) and this group of boys deserve every bit of credit for turning that round completely and for raising expectations at the football club.

"So we will sit down and speak about how we can be more positive in terms of our press but keep believing in what we do and how we play, and we will certainly pick up points in the coming weeks."

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Fourth-placed St Mirren travel to St Johnstone on Wednesday night and manager Stephen Robinson will be wanting to try and reclaim third spot.

Put yourself in the manager's shoes and tell us your starting XI here.

Mark Jardine, Misery Hunters podcast, external

For the first time in a while, the Saints feel very much part of a cluttered five-side central belt as opposed to a peaceful village on the outskirts of the top two. The season's efforts as a whole have created the buffer that should stop all but the most lunar of howling, but a little concern as to current momentum is probably justified.

All that being said, a resolute defensive performance in Govan unpicked by a couple of Premier League(ish) imports is no genuine indicator of where the Saints and their top six ambitions stand.

For a clearer picture of what might be on Stephen Robinson's Christmas list, look no further than this midweek's visit to an improving St Johnstone. Since a four goal drubbing in Paisley resulted in the end for Steven MacLean's time in Perth, Craig Levein has swooped in and gone about his Craig Levein business - building what appears to be a typically Craig Levein side. The Saints are very unlikely to meet the same chins on chests squad that capitulated little over a month ago.

Visits to Celtic Park and Ibrox out of the way in the past month or so, the Buddies now face six games in 24 days against top-half rivals and relegation battlers. With expectations stacked high thanks to a year of significant progress, this has all the characteristics of a season-defining spell.

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We asked for your thoughts as St Mirren went down to Rangers at Ibrox...

William: I would certainly agree with Stephen Robinson that the games coming up are very winnable and hope our players surely see that too. A better performance at Ibrox than Dingwall gives us confidence to approach New Year hopefully back in third place and stay there. Wouldn't that be just great!

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Another defeat on the road, but are there positives to take from the performance.

Whether you were at Ibrox or followed from home, we want to hear your thoughts. Can St Mirren still finish third?

Let us know.

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson tells BBC Sportsound: "It was a crucial goal to lose just before half-time. I thought our shape was very good. When we landed on the ball we tried to play.

"But we were a bit passive with our press. You have to believe you can win the ball back here. That's my only real gripe.

"There are more positives than negatives. At least we tried to put some identity on the game, I would rather that than losing at Ross County when we didn't put anything on the game.

"We have three games coming up that are very winnable."

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Sean McGill, BBC Sport Scotland

St Mirren were looking for a response, too, after falling short earlier in the week. Analysing the two performances in context, Stephen Robinson may well be more pleased with his team's Govan showing than Tuesday's display in Dingwall.

They showed the qualities that propelled them to such an impressive start in the league, putting themselves about and sticking to a clear gameplan.

It was two rare lapses in concentration that caught them out, Beyond those missteps, the defence performed admirably, frustrating the home crowd who were expecting their team to respond.

Games at Ibrox likely won't determine St Mirren's season, but after Hearts took third from them on Saturday, their record of two wins in nine needs addressing urgently if they're to keep pace against their more stocked competitors.