Published: Monday, 15th December, 2008 12:30pm

Kevin not to blame

St Johnstone 1 Morton 0

MORTON boss Davie Irons refused to blame keeper Kevin Cuthbert who felt he had let his side down after letting in the late Kevin Rutkiewicz header.

Cuthbert returned to the side where he spent ten seasons prior to his summer switch to Cappielow.

And the keeper appeared to misjudge the Liam Craig corner from which Saints notched their last-ditch winner.

Irons said: 'Kevin has held his hands up and said he is to blame for the goal but I am not accepting that.

'I felt we could have defended the corner better but, that apart, we had as many chances as a team that are the league leaders.

'My side defended very well and I thought we contained Saints for most of this game. I am sick at losing the late goal as this would have been a good point.'

Irons is confident in his side and thinks they can push up the table following the recent form which has lifted them clear of the foot of the table.

He added: 'It"s a very competitive league but we have shown we can match anyone. We had the better of the first half here.

'We have improved a lot in the last few months and I think we can continue to pick up precious points to get up the table.'

Saints boss Derek McInnes had words of praise for Morton.

He said: 'My old club gave us a tough game. They are a big physical side with only James Grady under about 6 feet tall, I think.

'We overcame a very tough obstacle and got the late goal, which we maybe did not deserve, whereas last week against Queen of the South we did not get the winner we did deserve.

'Their defence was impressive and we found it very hard to break them down. We have faced two very difficult games against Morton this season.

'For us the bottom line is we got a vital late win.'

Morton will bid to bounce back when they entertain Ross County at Cappielow on Saturday.