Proud Stephen Robinson praised Alex Gogic after his performance in the defeat to Celtic, with the central defender epitomising everything positive about his team on a day when they were made to pay for a lack of a cutting edge.

The Saints performed admirably as they went down by two goals to nil to Celtic at the SMiSA Stadium, and the outcome might have been different had Gogic not seen an effort crash off the crossbar or if Joe Hart hadn’t managed to pull off a brilliant save from the same player’s acrobatic overhead kick.

Robinson was delighted with everything he saw from his men apart from their failure to apply the finishing touch, and he reserved special praise for Cypriot international Gogic.

"People tell me he is a central midfielder and then in the same breath tell me he has been our best player all season,” he said.

"He is excellent in the middle of the back three, it's the highest level he's ever played at international level.

"He's been a colossus for me. He is a dying breed, there's not too many of them left. They play with knocks, they play with bruises and give absolutely everything. He has a lot of quality and was very unfortunate not to be on the scoresheet.

"It's the fine margins in football. They hit the bar and it falls to (Daizen) Maeda and they score. We hit the bar and we don't.

"You've just got to hold your hands up and say they were more clinical than us in the box. They defended better than us in their box and, for all the good stuff, that's what wins and loses you games.

“Ultimately as a manager and coaches you set out the way you want to be and how you want to be looked at, and we’re a positive side that high press people.

“But we’re also a side that got the ball down and played and passed the ball in difficult, difficult conditions.

“I’m proud of them, but frustrated at the same time because we had chances and we weren’t clinical enough.

“There has to be credit given to Celtic for the two chances they take, they are clinical, and they defended very, very well in their box.

“There were two or three blocks that were fantastic, and ultimately they were better in both 18 yard boxes.

“So, for all the stuff we did in between, they deserved to win the game.”