ANYONE looking at St Mirren’s Betfred Cup results without having watched either match would surmise that this has been a productive week for Jim Goodwin’s side.

A 4-1 victory at home to Partick Thistle and then a battling 2-2 draw on a difficult surface at Queen of the South – followed by a bonus point secured in the subsequent penalty shoot-out – to sit top of the group doesn’t seem to leave much to grumble about.

The problem, however, in this era of pay-per-view streams of every match is that plenty of supporters will have turned in and seen for themselves that this foray into cup competition has been anything but plain sailing.

Only poor finishing and late tired legs denied Thistle the victory their play merited last midweek, while on Saturday Queens brutally exposed the deficiencies at the heart of the St Mirren defence as the Championship side raced to a two-goal lead inside the first 12 minutes.

The visitors deserve some credit to claw their back into the contest before proving clinical from 12 yards in the shoot-out. But it leaves them with plenty to contemplate ahead of the return of league action on Saturday and the visit of Motherwell.

“Our aim had been to win the game but when you go 2-0 down so early on you have to reset things and see what is a realistic result,” revealed Marcus Fraser whose 90th minute header spared St Mirren the embarrassment of defeat.

“At half-time we probably would have taken a draw with a bonus point. So if there’s a positive from that then we’ll take it.

“But we know we can’t start games like that going forward because if we do we’re going to make it really hard for ourselves as you won’t score two goals every week.

“And it’s not just the boys at the back and the goalkeeper. It’s the whole team collectively. We need to start better and defend much better.

“In the dressing room after the game the manager said well done for showing character to come back. But he knows and we know that in your bread and butter games in the league you can’t afford to be 2-0 down after 10 minutes.

“That just gives you a mountain to climb for the rest of the game. On Saturday we were chasing our tails from early on trying to get back into it. We had to play a high line at the back and there’s a chance when you’re doing that that they could have got in behind us.

“Thankfully we got there in the end but we know as a team that we can do much better. We’ll be looking at that over the next week and come Motherwell we’ll be sorted.”

Both of St Mirren’s cup ties have been very open and expansive with plenty of chances at either end. But Fraser expects things will tighten up when league action resumes.

“The two games have been proper cup ties with both teams going end to end,” he added. “There were a lot of chances for both teams in both games. In the league it’s totally different.

“One team has a spell of pressure and then the other one has a spell. And whoever takes their chance on the day wins. It was good to get a wee break from the league but now we’re going back into it and need to start picking up points.”

Queen of the South’s disappointment at the outcome was tempered by the strength of their first-half performance. And a win over Partick Thistle tomorrow will take them to the top of the group.

“We’re disappointed to lose a very late goal and then the extra point on penalties,” said defender Wullie Gibson who missed one of the spot kicks. “I thought that was harsh.

“But we’re still in a good position after two games. And if we win our next two that will take us to nine points which will probably be good enough to qualify.”