Craig Gordon broke St Johnstone hearts with a stunning reflex save to stop the Perth side taking the lead against their Edinburgh opponents at the weekend.
But, Sam Curtis, the player whose close-range shot was kept out by the veteran Scotland goalkeeper, insisted it hasn’t broken their faith that they will win their Premiership survival battle.
“I was ready to celebrate,” the on-loan Sheffield United man admitted, looking back on Sunday’s match-defining moment against Hearts.
“I watched it a couple of times on TV then I just parked it. I moved on.
“I feel like that’s all I could really have done.
“If we’re nit-picking, maybe I could’ve gone the other way with it.
“But in that moment, I was only looking to get something on the ball.
“I did that. He’s pulled off a great save.
“Nine times out of 10 I think that goes in. That’s just football.
“It was unfortunate that 90 seconds later they go up the park and put it in our net.
“It’s fine margins in football but there’s nothing we can do about it now.
“If I get that chance against Ross County, put it the other side of him.”
Good positions
The fact that Curtis and fellow wing-back, Drey Wright, came so close to scoring against Hearts is reason to be optimistic that good things will soon come the team’s way in an attacking sense, according to the Irishman.
“I feel like we’re picking up so many good positions,” he said. “Myself included.
“Maybe that final ball is just not there, especially against Hearts.
“But players getting into those positions is a really positive thing.
“If you’re not creating chances then you can start to worry a bit.
“But we see the final product on the training ground every day.
“It’s not a worry for us. We know it will come.
“I was very frustrated with myself the other day, particularly two deliveries I put over in the first half.
“I work on it all the time, speak to Andy Kirk about doing extras on stuff like that.
“When I get in those positions I try to make sure that it’s good for the player so they can go and attack them.
“I can’t get too down about it because I know I have it in me to put it on someone’s head.
“In the second half, I found Drey and he scored but it’s ruled out for offside.
“That was another tough one to take.”
Curtis added: “Both Drey and myself are getting into these areas.
“I feel like when you pick up those positions and you put in those extra yards to get in the box, you do get good fortune from it.
“Neither went our way on Sunday but I’m sure if we keep making those extra hard yards to get into the box then that will pay off.
“Adama scored with a great header at the back post. We had loads of bodies in the box. I was in there behind him.”
Dressing room confident
“When I first came here I was a little bit surprised how positive it was,” said Curtis.
“I wondered how the lads would be, what the body language would be like.
“But everything is really positive and that’s stems from the manager – putting us in that positive mind frame which is a hard thing to do when you’re sitting bottom of the table.
“But I think that will definitely pay off.
“We have to keep doing that right until the last game.”
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