St Mirren interim manager Jamie Langfield praised his players for battling their way to a draw at Livingston following the departure of former boss Jim Goodwin.

Bruce Anderson’s opener, which may have gone in off Livingston defender Joe Shaughnessy, had the home side ahead but Greg Kiltie’s late equaliser secured a point for the visitors who also had Charles Dunne sent off.

Goodwin officially left St Mirren for Aberdeen on the morning of the match and Langfield admitted the ongoing uncertainty had been disruptive.

He said: “Livingston were better than us. But to keep our unbeaten run going, especially after the last couple of days, is testament to the players. Our boys battled and got us a point.

“You saw in the first half we were a wee bit all over the place. I’ll take full responsibility for that because we’ve probably not done enough work as we should be doing going into a game. It’s been a bit more hectic and all over the place.

“In the second half, they were causing us a lot of problems down our left-hand side, so we had to change it. I think I was booed for taking off Jordan Jones and bringing on Scott Tanser!

“But it worked – and it’s full credit to the players. They have this winning mentality just now and don’t want to be defeated.”

Jack Ross, Steven Naismith and Scott Brown are among those linked with the vacancy and Langfield felt whoever got it would be walking into a great job.

He added: “You see from the last few years, with Jack Ross and Jim Goodwin, that the club has got a way of bringing people in that fit the ethos of the club and are young and up-and-coming managers.

“I can only say that whoever comes in is one lucky person because they get to work with probably one of the best bunch of players I’ve seen at St Mirren in a long, long time.”

Livingston manager David Martindale expressed his frustration that his team had failed to win from a promising position.

He said: “We created the better chances and have to have more composure in the final third. I had a bit of a go at the forwards as I believe they have to do more. They have to be more clinical but at no point did I feel under pressure by St Mirren.

“I’m bitterly disappointed because it was a chance to get us in the top six. We are unbeaten in three games over 10 days and I should be happy. But I’m not because we have dropped four points and are out of the Scottish Cup.”