ST MIRREN manager Oran Kearney believes his players can’t afford to go a goal behind in a match as they currently lack the winning mentality needed to turn it around.

The former Coleraine boss is still looking for his first victory since moving to Paisley last month, with Saturday’s defeat to St Johnstone a fifth loss in as many matches.

The Perth side missed two penalties when they led by a single goal but Kearney’s men couldn’t capitalise and instead ended up conceding a late second to kill any chance of a comeback.

The poor run has left the manager frustrated as he looks ahead to tomorrow's crunch home contest against fellow relegation strugglers Motherwell.

But he revealed it took time to turn around Coleraine’s fortunes and felt it would likely be the same story here.

He said: “The players have to start to believe in themselves but, to be fair to them, they’ve been in this situation longer than I have. I’m not saying that’s acceptable but I’m saying it’s understandable the place they find themselves in at the minute.

“If I look at the team I left to come here, Coleraine, we started out very much like this. But we got to a point where we could go a goal behind in a game but still turn it around to win it.

“Where we are at this moment in time with the current run we’re on and how tough people are finding it – I’m not sure we’re ready yet to do that here.

“These are things we have to work on. We want to instil that ethos where we have that battling mentality and can dig in where we need to and show the fighting qualities that are required.”

Despite Saints losing nine of their last 10 matches, Kearney won’t be putting a rocket under his players as he feels they’re hurting enough already.

He said: “Our lack of consistency frustrates me but I know it frustrates the players as well. There are good people there who want to win matches, to do well at this level and have good careers. So you have to be careful with them from that point of view.

“They’re coming in automatically feeling bad and down after a Saturday, and so me going over the top and magnifying that again isn’t going to make them feel any better. There has to be accountability but we’re also trying to keep people upbeat.

“It’s about getting the correct approach so that people can still float and go into that next game with a positive mindset. It’s the carrot as well as the stick.”

Tomorrow night’s game against Motherwell now looks huge but Kearney hasn’t targeted it specifically.

He added: “I’m not one to distinguish or prioritise games. There were three points available on Saturday and it’s the same on Wednesday and then again next Saturday. So, we’ve not highlighted this game in particular and said it’s a must-win or anything like that.

“We’ve huffed and puffed at times. Saturday’s performance wasn’t as good as the previous Saturday’s so we’re only getting sporadic bursts from them. We need to have more consistency.”

Anton Ferdinand, who missed the weekend’s game through injury, could yet feature on Wednesday, with longer-term casualties Adam Eckersley and Kyle Magennis also edging closer to full fitness.

The manager explained: “We’ll see how the next couple of days goes for Anton but hopefully he’ll get to a place where he can do something. Adam will hopefully get a match in pretty soon, and Kyle is not far away from full training now.”