Smith seeking points

"We gave a good account of ourselves in terms of pressing but we maybe didn't create too much. It is a defeat and not nice to take."

Goalkeeper Chris Smith was naturally disappointed with Monday's defeat at the hands of the league leaders:-

"Against Celtic we maybe needed a wee bit more belief going forward.. We gave a good account of ourselves in terms of pressing but we maybe didn't create too much. It is a defeat and not nice to take."

That defeat now means that it is an even worse start than 1991-92 when the first home win of the season came on 11th January. Smithy was just interested in gaining points:-

"You just want to win whether it is at home or away and get points on the board. We weren't going to be favourites going into Monday's game because Celtic are top of the league, and deservedly so. It is just unfortunate that they are on their game just now and when they are like that it is quite hard to stop them. They are a good side and flying high."

Chris had initially thought that he maybe should have got slightly closer to Anthony Stokes opening strike but he was assured by Assistant Manager Gerry McCabe at half time that there was no way that he could have stopped the shot to his top left corner.

"First half we pressed hard and it took a great goal like that to break the deadlock. It is hard to come back when you are playing against Celtic.

"We did have a few wee chances to breakthrough; Martin Hardie had two and Paul Willis made a couple of good deliveries in from the wing so we were just a little unfortunate. If one of those had gone in it could have changed the game."

There had been a gap of just over seven months between Chris Smith's last competitive game and his return to action against St Johnstone on Christmas Eve. With few reserve games being played this season that has not made it easy for him to make an impact on his return:-

"I know myself that I did not cover myself in glory but I felt a lot more comfortable against Celtic. The boys in front of me were solid; obviously we lost three goals but Celtic didn't play through us until late on in the game when we were trying to go for a goal. I feel that I am getting there."