FRUSTRATED, disappointed but far from downhearted.

That's where Jim Goodwin, the St Mirren manager, finds himself after three difficult games, away to Hibernian then home to Aberdeen, a win, and this defeat to Rangers in Paisley.

A team that spent almost all of last season in the bottom two places in the Premiership have improved and will get better.

Sure, Rangers were the better side but Goodwin's team looks okay and on another day might have got away with a draw.

Goodwin said: "I’m not going to say that we deserved to win the game because we didn’t – Rangers were the better team – but I felt my players were organised.

"We worked on allowing Rangers to have possession in the middle of the pitch, forcing them wide because we knew they wanted to play through us because they don’t have a great presence in there. We coped well with that.

“Vaclav Hldanky has made two saves but apart from that he didn’t have a great deal to do.

“We contained Rangers well but there’s also the frustration about us trying to do a little bit better with the ball because I felt in the second half we invited waves of attack. We weren’t able to get up the pitch and that was the most disappointing thing.

“Rangers have quality in their team and for them to beat us with some brilliant from Barasic to break us down, the players deserve a lot of credit.

We have had three difficult games and I’d have taken three points before those games. Nobody would have argued if we’d taken a point at Hibs and had we could have nicked one today, if things have gone I our favour, but unfortunately they didn’t.

"I'm frustrated. It took a moment of brilliance for Rangers to eventually break us down. I felt the longer the game went on it was going to be a free-kick or penalty that was going to win it, because our back four and the midfield two in front of them were excellent.

St Mirren's Jon Obika did have a penalty shout in the first half when he fell inside the Rangers box while challenging Filip Helander. The striker admitted: “He definitely pulled me back but I might have clipped him beforehand. That’s what the referee said.”

And Goodwin wasn't making too much of it - at least after the match.

He said: "“I was claiming it! I don’t know how much from a penalty it was. From me angle, I felt Helander slipped and Obika was going by him. You hope against the Old Firm they decisions go your way. I’m not going to point the finger at the referee."