Ian McCall said his Partick Thistle players were "utter dugmeat" despite beating Queen of the South on Friday night.
The Jags picked up a big three points on the road in the Championship and moved another step closer to a playoff spot.
Scott Tiffoney's second-half strike was the difference but in truth it was Willie Gibson's Queens who had the better of the play.
Thistle, who watched their title hopes go up in smoke with four defeats in their last five going in, created precious little again in Dumfries.
McCall was relieved to come away with the three points.
But he pulled no punches as he assessed his team's performance, telling the BBC: "I thought we were utter dugmeat.
"I thought Queens deserved to win.
"But at this stage of the season it's about winning. I feel for Queens and I feel for Willie, they're obviously playing for him and they played some really nice stuff.
"Hopefully he gets the job.
"But for us it was just about getting the three points and every game now means so much to so many clubs.
"It was a good three points but performance wise, we weren't at our best."
