JACK Ross branded Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Morton in Paisley a ‘sickener’ after a last-gasp equaliser from Ricki Lamie denied Saints a much-needed three points at home.

Gary Mackenzie had grabbed the opening goal in the first half to set the Buddies for what was looking like a crucial win against their fiercest rivals. 

But Lamie’s goal stung the home side and Ross admits he was gutted to concede so late in the game.

He said: “It’s a bit of a sickener at the end in terms of dropping two points, but I was disappointed with the manner of performance in the latter stages of the game. It means we have that bit of fragility as we go into the latter stages, but it’s sore when you drop points in injury time. It’s always going to hurt.” 

Ton striker Jamie McDonagh was sent for an early bath after kicking out at Rocco Quinn, but Ross believes his side were actually coping better against 11 players than they did when the visitors went down to 10.

And he believes Saints’ anxiety is somewhat understandable — because they’ve struggled so badly in the Championship so far this season.

He added: “We can’t make them take that responsibility in that period because their performance was better against 11 men than it was with 10, and I think everyone could see that.

“The anxiety is there because of how the season has went. 

“But you need to develop the mental strength to deal with that, which is a huge part of any sport.

“That’s why we didn’t make them work harder within the last 25 minutes because they still had the freshness about them because we didn’t keep the ball well enough in that period.

“That allows them to get higher up the park later in the game and get a set-piece.”