Curtis Main believes the odds of St Mirren making it into Europe have been stacked against them ever since they secured a top-six spot.
But that won’t stop the Buddies striker battling to the end as the Paisley club continue to try and upset the apple cart and secure a European spot next season.
The Saints were looking set fair for a massive three points against Euro spot rivals Hearts until Lawrence Shankland’s dramatic last-minute equaliser on Saturday afternoon.
While that late leveller has undoubtedly dented St Mirren’s chances of catching both the Jambos and Hibs, with three games left to play Main insists he and his teammates won’t be giving up the fight just yet.
Main told Renfrewshire Live Sport: “It’s a sore one to take. We were 2-0 up at half-time and should have seen the game out.
“Zander Clark has made a couple of great saves, but we should still have seen it out.
“We’ve performed really well but in the second half we just didn’t do enough. It’s disappointing and frustrating.
“It’s going to be tough now, but two games ago the odds were against us anyway.
“I don’t think our mentality needs to change that much. We still need to perform when no one gives us a chance.
“We’ll be the underdogs again, but we’ve done well with that tag all season.
“Hopefully in the last three games we can go and live up to that again to get the results we need to get a European spot.”
Main refused to chastise fellow Buddie Ryan Flynn, whose late foul gave Hearts the opportunity to equalise in injury-time from the penalty spot.
The forward was less glowing about referee David Dickinson’s performance, who certainly riled up boss Stephen Robinson and the Saints support throughout the match with some questionable decisions.
Main said: “Flynn is an experienced player. He’s honest, he’s tried to get around and cover and he doesn’t make a tackle with his feet. I think there’s just slight contact and he’s gone down.
“I thought the referee was pretty poor all game, in terms of decision making. All over the pitch it was really frustrating as the game never really flowed because there were so many little fouls - or so-called fouls.
“That was just another one of them. We’ve just got to roll our sleeves up now and go again.”
With Main’s contract with the Saints set to expire this summer, the 30-year-old is still yet to commit his future to the club despite having been offered a new deal.
He is happy to wait until the end of the campaign to decide his next step, adding: “It’s no secret I’ve enjoyed my time here, especially under this manager.
“I love playing for him, both in the past and in the present now here.
“I’ve enjoyed my time at the club, especially this season.
“It’ll go back to the club and we’ll speak about it towards the end of the season.”
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