Andre Raymond could have done his best to wipe last weekend’s glaring miss against Dundee United from his memory.
But the St Johnstone defender chose to relive his Tannadice nightmare by watching the first half shot over the bar more than FIFTY times.
Learning from a mistake meant breaking it down.
And the Trinidad and Tobago international expects to be a better player – and finisher – as a result.
“It was a sleepless night last Saturday,” said Raymond, who skied a close-range effort into the Eddie Thompson Stand just before half-time, when the scoreline was still 0-0.
“But you live and you learn.
“I just have to go out and correct my wrongs.
“The ball took a spin as it came back.
“The boys saw that and the spirit of the guys towards me, rallying around me afterwards, was great.
“I have watched it every day. Last night I watched it again. Fine detail is very important in football.
“Little things make the difference in games.
“I watched it over to see what I could have done better and what I might do if that opportunity comes at me again.
“I think I’ve watched it more than 50 times. In that situation, I was just overthinking it.
“As the ball is coming, everything is in slow motion. I think: ‘Am I going to score? Am I going to hit it too hard? I don’t want it to go over’.
“Exactly what I didn’t want to happen did happen.”
‘I will go forward’
Raymond added: “All my team-mates have been very encouraging.
“They haven’t made me feel down at all. At the end of the day, we are humans and we make mistakes.
“We just have to learn. Every opportunity to help the team in attack, I will go forward to do that.
“So the manager was happy that I got himself into that position in the first place.
“He would have been happier if I’d capitalised on the chance, obviously, but he wasn’t upset with me.
“I normally score one or two goals a season. Everyone has their role to play in the team.”
The 23-year-old now has seven games for Saints under his belt, three of those Premiership starts, and he believes he’s found a sporting home that suits him perfectly.
“Scottish football has been really good for me,” he said. “The speed of the game is exactly as I thought it would be and I’m enjoying every game.
“It’s totally different to Portugal, much quicker. Portugal is about patience on the ball and you pass it around.
“Scotland is constantly back and forward. That’s my style. In Portugal, I wanted to attack more while the coaches were telling me: ‘Calm, Calm’.
“Here, I can exploit that option.
“At first it was pretty difficult for me but now my body has adapted to the speed and style.”
Motherwell memories
Saints face Motherwell on Saturday.
Last time the teams met, the Perth club’s top-flight status was in jeopardy and Raymond was an interested viewer on his laptop.
“I knew there was a chance of coming here at the end of last season so I watched the last game against Motherwell,” he recalled.
“I asked Dan Phillips how I could watch it.
“That game was tight and stressful.
“And, in the end, I was very relieved.
“I’m not sure if I would be here if the club had been relegated.”
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