Craig Levein: St Johnstone back on the ‘rollercoaster’ after a ‘hell of a frustrating afternoon’ against Kilmarnock

St Johnstone manager Craig Levein was starting to believe his team had turned a corner.

But the Perth side’s performance in their 2-0 defeat to Kilmarnock left him feeling the players were back on the Premiership “rollercoaster”.

A set-piece goal in both halves secured Killie three points at McDiarmid Park.

The defensive frailties that were exposed left Levein frustrated, as did his team’s failure to play like a team which was coming off a morale-boosting away win seven days earlier.

“The rollercoaster is back in operation,” he said. “It was a hell of a frustrating afternoon.

“After the last two games I’ve been talking fairly confidently about continuing at that level.

“Some of the basic stuff we didn’t do well enough.

“I acknowledge Kilmarnock are a good side who know what they’re doing and are difficult to play against.

“But that won’t stop me being frustrated about our own performance.

“We spoke about set-pieces and worked on them.

“There are roles to fulfil and everyone needs to do their job properly.

“We’d been doing that well and that’s why I say it’s back on the rollercoaster.

“We didn’t play with the confidence I thought we should have had because of our previous performances.

“Individually we didn’t have that many players who played anywhere near their best.”

‘Good chances’

Ryan McGowan hit the post before Killie scored their second goal and momentum was building towards an equaliser at that point.

“Kilmarnock didn’t batter us by any stretch of the imagination and we had some good chances,” said Levein.

“Not dozens, of course, but some good ones.

“And we didn’t take them.

“When that happens it’s a boost to the opposition.

“Those were moments that were critical because if we put the ball in the back of the net, things can change.

“But the level of disappointment is increased by my hope that I had thought we were back on track.”

Midfielder Dan Phillips was substituted midway through the second half with a rib injury.

“Dan got a knock on the ribs,” said Levein. “It’s a sore thing but I don’t know how serious it is at the moment.”