St Mirren assistant manager Diarmuid O’Carroll hailed the efforts of his side after the injury-hit Paisley outfit held firm to win 1–0 against Ross County.

Declan Gallagher’s header in the eighth minute proved to be the difference between the teams, although the defender would limp off before the end.

Other issues from earlier in the week meant the Buddies named a youthful substitutes’ bench, but O’Carroll was delighted to claim all three points.

“We were brilliant for 60 or 70 minutes, and the boys were maybe disappointed they couldn’t put the game to bed,” he said.

“We have had a tough week injury-wise, and some people maybe haven’t played the minutes they would like, but we dug in and got the clean sheet, so we’re delighted.

“We had a good few out, but fair play to the likes of Ryan Flynn coming in – he put in a man-of-the-match performance.

“We’re thin on the ground, and our bench shows that with young lads.

“That’s the model of the club, but the problem we have at the minute is that we can’t get them game time in terms of reserves or friendlies, so they’re a little bit short when they come on, but we want to create the next (Ethan) Erhahon and kick on again.”

Ross County boss Malky Mackay, meanwhile, was left less than impressed with the referee’s handling of the game.

Drawing particular ire was a collision between Trevor Carson and Owura Edwards that could have been a penalty for the Staggies, and the lack of action over what he felt was timewasting by their hosts.

“I cannot believe that wasn’t a penalty, because he touches it by the goalie and gets smashed out of the park,” Mackay said.

“I was saying ‘surely’, and I know there was a check but when I heard that everything was fine I couldn’t believe it. If that was in the middle of the park it’s a foul, so I think it was a huge error.

“I was talking to the fourth official and the linesman about the time wasting from the first 15 minutes.

“I have no problems with that tactic, but the referee has to add time on and eventually affect the game. Eventually someone has to take a yellow card for that.

“They were just killing the momentum of the game, and I have no problem with that but the referee wasn’t doing anything about it, and that’s not good enough.”