St Johnstone were too “safe” in their pursuit of a first away victory of the season at Livingston, according to Craig Levein.
But the consolation for the Perth boss after an instantly forgettable game of football is that the 0-0 draw keeps his team seven points above their West Lothian opponents and edged them a point further away from the play-off spot.
“It was two teams playing safe football,” said Levein.
“In the second half I thought we were a bit better but it was all too safe for my liking.
“We’ve done enough in the last seven games where we’ve had good 15, 30 minute spells and controlled the game.
“We played the safe ball too many times tonight, and so did Livingston.
“We had an offside goal and Nicky (Clark) had a chance.
“It looked like they had a reasonable chance (an injury-time Mikey Devlin shot) at the end.
“I’d like to be talking about more passages of good play but I’m struggling to.”
High stakes
There were no instructions from Levein that this was a ‘must not lose’ rather than a game where a victory needed to be seized.
But the high stakes in this bottom six clash may have played a part in what played out.
“I think subconsciously, if you keep the gap then that can feel better than losing,” said Levein.
“Maybe both teams had that idea in their heads.
“It’s not something we’d spoken about but I’ve been there 100 times and know what it feels like.
“The pressure has been on for all the wrong reasons and I think that’s what we saw tonight.
Levein confirmed that Fran Franczak and Ryan McGowan both missed the match through illness.
Max Kucheriavyi sustained a gash to his knee that forced him off just before half-time.
He will “need stitches at hospital,” Levein reported.
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