Curtis Main believes his Buddies must not be disheartened after walking away from their Premiership opener empty-handed.
St Mirren struggled to click into gear in the Premier Sports Cup but produced a much better performance against Motherwell in Sunday’s league curtain raiser.
Despite Buddies having the lion’s share of possession and creating several gilt-edged chances – many of which were saved by an inspired Liam Kelly – the Steelmen lifted the three points thanks to Kevin Van Veen’s clinical first-half penalty.
Main, who saw a late header thwarted by a Kelly wonder save, believes the Saints must take the positives from the defeat and try to replicate the performance at Pittodrie on Saturday.
He told Express Sport: “The performance was a lot more of what we expect from ourselves, a much better level.
“I know we didn’t get the right result but it’s only one game. We lost it on a penalty. There are plenty of positives to take.
“It was definitely frustrating. For the majority of the game we controlled possession and dominated in terms of chances.
“I’m not sure how many opportunities they’ve had on goal, certainly not many, but they’ve obviously come away with the three points.
“That’s the way it goes sometimes.
“We can’t get too disappointed. Obviously we want to get points on the board and we want to win games, especially at home.
“But after that performance we can’t be too disheartened.
“We’ve got to roll up our sleeves again, go up to Aberdeen next weekend and put in an equally good performance and build on it.”
After coming on a second-half sub to try and unlock the Motherwell defence, Main admits he was astounded to see his close-range header tipped over the bar by former Rangers keeper Kelly.
After having surgery over the summer, Main was pleased to finally be able to get back in the thick of the action after spending several gruelling weeks in the gym.
The 30-year-old hopes he’s done enough to prove he’s fit and ready to take a shot at former club Aberdeen next weekend.
Main said: “I couldn’t do much more to be honest. It was a great ball in from Richard Tait and I just tried to help it on.
“The keeper made a great save. To tip it away from danger as well, it was a brilliant save.
“He did everything right. He’s produced a few world class saves and just in general he was top class all game.
“That was the difference between us getting at least a point or nothing.
“I’ve been working hard since before last season even stopped.
“I had surgery just before the end of last season and worked right through the summer as hard as I possibly could to get back quickly.
“Sometimes these things take time. You’ve got to be realistic and just let your body recover and heal.
“Hopefully I’m there now and it’s just about building from here. It was great to get out on the pitch and get some minutes in the legs again.”
