Ethan Ross hopes to build on McDiarmid Park goal and believes that Falkirk can take plenty positives from St Johnstone clash.
On conceding so late: “We’re gutted in there; it’s hard. Obviously we had a similar situation against Dundee United a couple of weeks ago as well, where we were so close to the three points and then, almost last kick of the game, so, you know, we’re disappointed in there, but there’s plenty positives to take, and I think it will hurt. We will come back, and we’ll look at the positives that we can take from today’s game and look to build on them.
On if it hurts more because it happened just a matter of weeks ago: “Against Dundee United, we didn’t feel like we played well at all, and that goal was probably coming, whereas today, we felt like we managed it a bit better, just obviously that very final stage where we give the ball away cheaply and we don’t need to make a foul where we make a foul and fair play to the boy, he’s stuck it right in the top corner, but for us personally, we need to look at can we manage the game better.
On improving his numbers: “That’s something I know myself. I’ve not had enough goals, had enough assists. The gaffer and smudger have been on to me on getting my numbers up, and that’s something that I want to do as well. I want to entertain the fans, I want to score goals, I want to be in and amongst it, so getting my first of the season today is brilliant. It would have been nicer had we had three points to go with it, but I’ll look at that as something I can build on and the more goals that I score, the more assists that I get, the better the team will do.
On if the coaches have been onto him regarding output: “Yeah, for sure, I think they’ve said that the performances can be added with the goals and the assists, but they’re full of praise and full of belief that they put in me, and they’ve said that when one comes, hopefully the floodgates will open, so that’s why I’m delighted to get off the mark, but hopefully there’s more to come.
On if things are beginning to click: “That’s something the manager has said; we’ve had a big turnover in the summer, and that was never going to be easy for the club to let everyone gel I think now we’re definitely in a better place. Obviously, a good win against Hearts midweek and being so close today, we feel that we’re really coming together now, and we’ve got a settled squad. We know there’s no one going to come in, no one going to go out, and there’s a real healthy competition within the squad as well. With the number that we’ve got, we feel like we’re getting to a better place week by week. Obviously, international break, we’ll be able to recover now and work on certain things that we want to, and then hopefully come that next game, we’ll be in an even better place.
On the summer signings: “It’s very tough for them; the gaffer puts a lot of demands on players, but I think they’ve all been brilliant. They’ve all brought something different to the team and to the changing room as well cause it can be tough for boys to settle in, but we’ve got a really good changing room, and everyone’s settled in really well, and you can see the qualities that some of them are showing on the pitch, obviously, like I said, a big turnover of boys, but I think we’ve replaced quality with quality, so it’s now up to them to see what the boys done last season and try and emulate that.
On the upcoming International break: “It would have been sweeter to go into the International break on a win, but that’s football; you can’t really decide these things, so we’ll enjoy our break and, like I said, we’ll work on a few things that need to be worked on, and we’ll analyse this game, probably parts of the Hearts game and other bits that we think we can work on, but I feel like we’re getting into a better place now, so by the time the International break’s over we’ll be in a really strong place.”