St Mirren boss Oran Kearney says there is no point looking back in anger at last week’s controversial defeat to Kilmarnock.
The Buddies boss was so upset by the 2-1 defeat to Steve Clarke’s men that he waited until Tuesday before sitting down to watch the re-run with his players.
The Paisley faithful were left ranging when Aaron Tshibola’s second-half header was ruled to have crossed the line by referee Willie Collum and his asssitant.
It was a debatable call and the Saints support were left feeling hard done by again when a Simeon Jackson equaliser was ruled out for offside.
But Kearney does not believe that hanging on to that fury will do his side’s chances of picking up their first win since the opening day of the season any good and instead wants them thinking rationally for Saturday’s trip to St Johnstone.
“On Saturday night and through Sunday and even on Monday there definitely was anger at the way the Kilmarnock game finished,” he admitted.
“But the players have to scrap all that when we go out to train and I do as well.
“The chances of us getting a result on Saturday will not be dictated by me feeling sorry for myself Tuesday through to Friday and it’s the same with the players.
“We’ve made the point to the players – win, lose or draw – once we do the analysis on the Tuesday, it’s forgotten about. Even if we win 4-0, we’ll do analysis on a Tuesday and then scrap the previous game and move on to the next one.
“A bit of emotion can be good at times but it’s more about being rational going into each game. Last Saturday is history, it’s done and dusted and no amount of us complaining about it will change that.
“To be fair, the players have been absolutely brilliant with their attitude and I can see a result coming. It’s only a matter of time.”
Kearney will come up against compatriot Tommy Wright this weekend and admits he can take inspiration from the way his fellow Northern Irishman has performed in Perth.
“I know Tommy well from back home,” said Kearney, who has collected just one point from his first five games in charge.
“I came across him quite a few times during my early days in management.
“I was just starting out at Coleraine then and when the team was in transition so I probably turned him over a couple of times and he’s probably done the same to me.
“They were good battles. He’s a good man and I’m looking forward to seeing him on Saturday.
“The job he’s done at St Johnstone has been fantastic. The ability to work with the budget he has and achieve so much is absolutely the benchmark we’re looking to meet.”
