St Johnstone suffered a “small margins” defeat in the most painful fashion against Hearts.
And head coach, Simo Valakari, has admitted he needs them to turn their way if the Perth side are going to stay in the Premiership.
The visitors won 2-1 thanks to an Elton Kabangu double either side of an Adama Sidibeh strike.
The first Hearts goal was a fraction onside and late in the contest, Drey Wright had a header disallowed that the camera angles available to VAR made an overrule impossible.
“I’ve not been told anything by the officials,” said Valakari. “That’s how it is.
“We’ve seen this weekend that it’s not always easy to get things right with VAR.
“These are small margins. We believe that in the next 11 games they will turn in our favour.
“It’s not easy to win games if you don’t get the small margins in your favour.
“There wasn’t much between the teams. Hearts used a couple of moments with better quality than we did.
“Our product in the final third wasn’t good enough in the first half then in the second half we looked more dangerous.
“It was a good goal to 1-1 and then Sam (Curtis) has the best chance of the match to make it 2-1.
“The hearts goalkeeper makes a wonder reflex save and, as so often happens in football, they score with their next attack.
“That hurts.
“But we showed enough belief and good football that nothing is lost.
“We’ve have three games coming up that are huge.
“We know it is a very big moment.
“Let’s keep pushing with the things that we are doing well because some of it is very good – even on a difficult pitch and in difficult conditions.
“The boys gave everything that they had but to win football matches you need to take your chances.”
Pressure
Saints remain six points adrift of 11th in the table, with season-defining matches against Ross County and Dundee up next.
Valakari, though, is determined that the weight of pressure will not be a factor in these crucial fixtures.
“I feel pressure for my players because I see the hard work they put in,” he said.
“I want to deliver the tools for them to be successful.
“I feel pressure for the fans because I want them to enjoy wins.
“That’s the pressure I feel.
“When you’re a professional footballer there is always pressure – next contract, the fans, coaches, owners, being bottom of the league.
“My job is to take the football pressure off them.
“All I want is work-rate from them every day. That’s the only pressure I put on my players.
“Sometimes the maximum isn’t enough for a win.
“We try to use this pressure, if you want to call it that, as positively as possible.”
Good start
Despite the heavy under-foot conditions, Saints started the game well and passed the ball around far more effectively than in the early stages at Rugby Park the previous weekend.
During the first 10 minutes, Sidibeh, in for Makenzie Kirk, had a shot blocked on one occasion and was foiled when he made a good near post run on another.
Saints also did a decent job of keeping the Hearts attackers at a safe distance, with Jorge Grant and Blair Spittal long-range efforts that sailed over the bar the closest they came to breaking the deadlock.
After half-an-hour of relative comfort, the hosts nearly shot themselves in the foot, however.
Barry Douglas, playing on the left of a back-three, gave the ball away in midfield and in the blink of an eye Andy Fisher was called upon to produce a superb fingertip save to deny Grant.
There was a strong element of Saints being the authors of their own downfall when Hearts did take the lead six minutes later.
Bozo Mikulic allowed Lawrence Shankland the opportunity to control a James Penrice pass, turn and then guide the ball to the back post where Kabangu helped it over the line from close range.
It was a tight call for offside, but the goal stood, and the visitors went into the break 1-0 up.
Saints’ best move of the match culminated in their equaliser on 53 minutes, when they switched play from right to left and Sidibeh bundled a Graham Carey cross home.
Just three minutes later they were a Craig Gordon wonder save away from taking the lead, with the veteran showing his reflexes are still as good as ever, throwing out an arm to deny Curtis at the same spot Sidibeh had scored.
It proved to be the defining moment in the contest as, with Hearts’ next proper attack, they got their second.
Shankland had another assist to his name (a pass between Mikulic and Daniels Balodis) and Kabangu another goal.
The fine margins of football certainly didn’t go in Saints’ favour, with a Drey Wright 68th minute header that even Gordon couldn’t keep out being chalked off for a marginal offside.
Carey missed a glorious chance to equalise late on but guided a left-foot shot wide from a Stephen Duke-Mckenna cross when it looked easier to score.
It was a St Johnstone performance with many encouraging aspects to it but the gap to second bottom remains just as depressing – six points.
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