Conor McCarthy reveals regrets of St Mirren 'nearly men' after latest Hampden heartache

St Mirren's Conor McCarthy heads home to make it 2-1 in his team's Scottish Cup semi-final loss to St Johnstone - a defeat he says has made them the "nearly men" this season.(Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

The 23-year-old, whose late goal could not spare Jim Goodwin’s men a 2-1 defeat in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup, wasn’t interested in any hard luck stories as he reflected on a second semi-final defeat in four months, and a place in the Premiership top six having slipped from their grasp in the closing minutes of the last game before the split.

“The story of our season was summed up today,” he said of the St Johnstone loss at Hampden. “We had numerous chances and we just didn’t take them. Unfortunately, we are the nearly men this season. There have been three [of these] occasions this season...we lost out in the Betfred semi-final [to Livingston], we missed out on the top six and obviously today. Next week, when it all settles down, there will be a few regrets inside our dressing room.

“It is physically draining. After the first one you regroup, and then you get hit again with the top six, and then again today. It will take us a few weeks to recharge our batteries, but we have a strong group in and no doubt we will be back next season. Everyone at this club is really ambitious. It would be weak mentality just to say ‘aw, brilliant this season to reach the semi-finals and push up that league table’. We want to look back on our careers and have medals in our back pockets. Nobody is going to remember the nearly men.”

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