Stephen Robinson says St Mirren deserves criticism for 'unacceptable' loss

Stephen Robinson has admitted his lackluster St Mirren side deserve all the criticism thrown at them after their shock Viaplay Cup group stage loss to Ligue 1 side Montrose.

Buddies fans turned on the players and management of the Cinch Premiership team at Links Park as Rory McAllister scored the game's only goal for the part-time hosts just before the hour mark.

"Not good enough," manager Robinson told St Mirren TV. "No matter what happens, whether it's a difficult pitch or a pre-season game, whatever the reasons we give, you don't lose the game.

"You stay in the game and get some kind of luck at the end, but we only started playing in the last 15-20 minutes.

"We deserve the criticism that will be directed at us, there is no hiding it.

"We should be good enough to come to a Ligue 1 team and win comfortably and we haven't done that as a collective, we have to work hard to make sure that changes.

"We are going to be criticized. There was a lot (of criticism) behind me and rightly so. It was not acceptable. We cannot have eight players who are not at the top of their game."

Robinson was frustrated that his side didn't implement the game plan as he pledged to ensure a strong response in their last three Viaplay Cup group matches.

"We decided to move the ball quickly, put balls in the box and play behind them and we didn't do that at all," he said. "I have to take responsibility for it, I framed them.

"Obviously this instruction was not understood well enough, so it must be my fault.

"We'll be looking for maximum points in our last three games, but we should get maximum points today. It's up to me to pick up the boys and make sure they come back in pulling.

"We're going to bounce back and we won't accept that the cup is over for us, which it obviously isn't."