St Johnstone will bounce back from their Europa Conference League heartbreak, manager Callum Davidson has insisted.
And they’ll set their sights on bringing more big European nights to McDiarmid Park next season.
Saints were beaten 2-0 by LASK, with both goals coming deep into the second half.
The Austrians’ opener was followed swiftly by David Wotherspoon being red carded for use of an elbow a minute after coming on as a substitute, an incident that Davidson admitted “didn’t look great”.
And he believes that was the moment the dream of group stage football, and the riches that would have brought, died.
WATCH: David Wotherspoon sees red just minutes after being introduced!
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“I thought for 70 minutes of the game the players were phenomenal,” said Davidson.
“They were performing against a team who have played at a high level for the past couple of seasons.
“For this game and the Galatasaray game my players gave me everything they’ve got.
“Ultimately it was a sending off that cost us.
“It is frustrating every time you get a player sent off and it is difficult to deal with.
“But I would rather talk about my players and their performance than the sending off. I am very proud of them.
“You look at the resources that LASK have compared to us, but we saw our team spirit.
“We have competed against two top teams in Europe and we nearly got through.
“It has given them a taste of European football and I said to them: ‘Let’s make sure we get that again’.
“It was a great atmosphere and the fans were brilliant as they were against Galatasaray. That is what you want at St Johnstone.
“We will refocus straight away and we will move on.”
Transfer window
The transfer window will shut on Tuesday night and Saints may yet have to fend off interest in some of their star players.
Davidson said: “There will be an interesting four or five days to come now.
“I’m obviously hoping we bring in more players rather than sell players. We’ll see what happens. It’s football.
“Some of our players have played really well. Ali McCann was outstanding again. That’s all four games in Europe he has played really well. He’s a terrific young talent, but that’s only if the price is right.”
LASK boss Dominik Thalhammer certainly won’t be on Davidson’s Christmas card list.
The pair exchanged words on the touchline and the Saints manager made his feelings clear about a word Thalhammer used after the first leg.
“Their coach made a comment last week about us being disgusting and I let it go because maybe it got lost in translation,” he said.
“But having been there tonight, I now know that wasn’t right.
“It’s disappointing to come across another manager who acts the way he did, because I want to respect every manager. I’ll always conduct myself that way.”
Davidson added: “I was surprised Uefa gave us a German referee for a game against an Austrian team – that’s like us getting an Irish or a Welsh one.
“I told me staff beforehand to be careful with the officials, because they and the Austrians would understand each other.
“Listen, things happen sometimes on the touchline, sometimes you make mistakes with things you say, but you always apologise for them. I always put my hands if I’ve been in the wrong.”
