Stephen Robinson admits results haven’t been good enough so far since he took over as St Mirren boss.
But he insists he’ll keep backing his players to the hilt as long as they keep showing the battling spirit they produced at Pittodrie to keep Saturday’s heavy defeat from becoming an embarrassing rout.
The Buddies have won three Premiership games in the 14 since Robinson replaced Jim Goodwin as manager, picking up two victories against Dundee and one against St Johnstone.
The new league campaign has started with two defeats, with Saturday’s loss to Aberdeen sparked by Declan Gallagher’s early red card.
The Paisley side fought hard in the second half to keep things respectable, reducing the deficit at one point through Jonah Ayunga’s penalty.
And Robinson is adamant the Saints will turn things around, starting with the visit of Ross County this weekend.
He told Renfrewshire Live Sport: “People who weren’t at the game will say we were rubbish. The same about the Motherwell game, some people only see the results.
"That’s what I get judged on. We haven’t got them so far, so of course we desperately need a result on Saturday against Ross County.
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in the players still and I’ll protect them to the hilt.
“They’re giving me absolutely everything and sometimes things just don’t go your way.
“I have to say, the character of the players, again, was excellent. They didn’t give up.
“We could have got it to 3-2 in the second half with the half-chance for Eamonn Brophy.
“We went and chased the game and put two strikers on.
“That’s my fault, maybe I should have stuck with one up front, but we went for it at 3-1 so I’ll take the blame for that.
“The things we could control, we perhaps didn’t do well enough.
“We could have better quality and decision making at times, but I’m not going to get too down about it. I can’t ask for too much more in terms of effort and application.
“Results are results, they’ve not been what we want so far but we’ve got another opportunity to rectify that on Saturday.”
While understandably frustrated after another handball led to Aberdeen’s opening goal, as it did for Motherwell’s crucial winner on the opening day of the season, Robinson insists the dressing room has remained a calm environment.
He believes the Buddies must stick to their task and trust their hard work on the training ground will pay off eventually at the weekend.
Robinson said: “It’s not a case of ‘oh we were awful and we can’t see anyway out of it’.
“We’re two games into the season and we have to keep believing in what we’re doing.
“Lady luck isn’t shining on us too much at the moment.
“I think I’ve had it go against us since I got the job.
“Things are going against us. But the hope for me is the character of the players.
“There are some very good performances in there and there’s no ranting and raving in the changing room.
“It’s a case of things are going against us.
“But I’m not one to make excuses and results haven’t been good enough and we have to turn it around.
“We will turn it around with the character and the performances.”
