Jim Goodwin: Only thing missing from ‘excellent’ Saints performance was a goal

St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin praised his players for an “excellent” performance against Dundee United but was left frustrated that they could not find a goal.

The scoreless draw ended a run of six consecutive league defeats for the Paisley side but Goodwin felt it could have been better if his team had been sharper in attack.

He said: “I thought the overall performance was excellent and all that was missing was the goal.

“We’ve had more attempts than in games gone by but unfortunately we’ve not been able to work the goalkeeper.

“There are so many positives – a first clean sheet in a long, long time which considering most of the lads haven’t been able to train or do anything for two to three weeks I couldn’t be any more pleased with the outcome.

“To put a stop to that poor run of defeats we were on was important.”

St Mirren initially thought they should have had a penalty after Paul McMullan appeared to trip Jon Obika late in the game but Goodwin admitted he later changed his mind.

He said: “I thought at the time it was a penalty but I have spoken to the analyst and by all accounts there was a touch on the ball by the player so well done the referee.”

A heavy fog descended in the second half and Goodwin revealed referee David Munro came close to calling the match off.

He added: “It was getting close. The referee came over and said it was touch and go if it got any worse. I was glad we were able to complete the game.

“I don’t think there was a need to call it off. It was a hard fought game between two decent teams.”

United manager Micky Mellon admitted his side had not been at their best but was pleased to see them battle to a goalless draw.

He said: “We’ll take a point away from home at a tough place. Defensively we did well around our 18-yard box but we want to be better in the forward areas than we showed this evening.

“But we battled away and earned our point so we’re taking something away from it.

“We’re picking up points and that’s all you can do. I’d much rather be where we are at the minute than a lot of other teams.”