Boss says ‘I might be taking them’ after more penalty misery for St Mirren

Posted Sunday, November 03, 2024 by PA

Stephen Robinson joked he might have to step up to take St Mirren’s next penalty after Greg Kiltie became the latest player to miss a spot-kick for the Buddies.

Saints lacked the cutting-edge required to get the better of a resolute Ross County side who held firm for their second 0-0 draw in four days in the William Hill Premiership.

After skipper Mark O’Hara relinquished penalty duty following his miss against Motherwell in September, it was left to Kiltie to put the ball away from 12 yards.

He looked confident as he stepped up, but would see his poorly taken kick saved by the legs of County goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw.

“It was something we’ve discussed (changing penalty taker), Mark has obviously missed a couple of penalties,” Robinson said.

“I have no criticism of anyone who is brave enough to step up and take one – it’s a pressure situation and a little bit of a lottery.

“Now, I might be taking them next week. I’ll have to take a look, Marcus Fraser is excellent at them and I might need to take a more defensive route.”

Having targeted six points from their home games against St Johnstone and County, Robinson had to settle for four.

The Northern Irishman was disappointed at what he viewed as a missed opportunity, although he believes there were still positives to take from the stalemate.

He continued: “We remain unbeaten, which is the positive to take from it. There were opportunities for us to win it.

“I maybe should have changed the team (from Wednesday night) but I instead went for a bit of consistency.

“There were pleasing aspects, though ultimately, it’s maybe two points lost.”

Don Cowie was full of praise for Laidlaw after his keeper produced his second clean sheet of the week to cap a positive seven days for the Staggies.

County followed up last weekend’s victory over Kilmarnock with goalless draws against Hibernian and St Mirren.

The key moment came after 33 minutes when Laidlaw kept out Kiltie’s spot-kick with his legs.

Cowie’s side began to pose more of an attacking threat in the dying embers of a poor quality affair at the SMISA Stadium, though it was their defensive steel that caught his attention.

He said: “Ross came up trumps with two great saves – he took a lot of pressure off us at times coming for balls.

“Not conceding, it’s something we’ve worked on and improved on.

“While it’s been frustrating we haven’t scored in the last two games, to get two clean sheets against really dangerous opposition in Hibs and St Mirren is credit to how the boys are putting their bodies on the line and defending their box.”