Jim Goodwin addressed the press after his side slipped to a 2-1 defeat against Livingston today.

“It’s another very frustrating afternoon for us. I can’t say that we were outplayed and outclassed and deserved to lose the game, because I don’t think that’s what happened out there. I always try to give an honest appraisal of a game and I thought we were the better team, I didn’t think we deserved to lose the game.

“In terms of possession, passing, getting into good areas, we did that really well. I felt we started the game as well as any in my time here, the opening 15 minutes we were really on top and could have got ourselves in front. When Livingston scored just before half-time, it was against the run of play. It was a poor goal from our point of view. Joe makes a great save but there was a lack of concentration on the second ball, their player reacted quickest and scored. From there we were chasing the game.”

That goal came in the midst of a controversial three minute spell that changed the face of the game, one which began with Aberdeen being denied what looked a clear penalty at the other end after a foul on Vicente Besuijen by Livingston’s goalkeeper.

“I certainly saw their goalkeeper push his hand into the face of Vinny Besuijen while the ball was still in play, so by the letter of the law, that’s a red card and a penalty. I don’t want to be talking about referees. The press and the pundits have all discussed how poor the level of officiating has been this year, I don’t want to add to that. Hopefully that will improve next season. But from my perspective, there were key moments in the game that went against us.

“For Ross’ second booking, I thought it was two committed players in a 50/50 challenge. It’s a silly tackle for Ross to get involved in given he’s already been booked, and with the Livingston player’s reaction, it gives the referee a decision to make. Ross has been great for me, one of the most consistent players but he’s still a youngster and he’ll learn that when you are on a yellow, you can’t go to ground like that. A little bit of the same for the penalty, I don’t know that there’s much contact, their player has been clever about it, but when we find ourselves out of position like that, it creates the circumstances where you can concede a penalty.

“Right now, we’re not getting much luck, big calls are going against us, we’re not getting the break of the ball, but that’s football. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We have to dust ourselves down and try and put it right against Dundee.

“You do have to make your own luck in this game but this afternoon, I felt we played well at times. Statistically, if you look at all the games this weekend in Scotland, I don’t think too many teams will have had more of the ball and got into the opposition box as much as we did, nor had as many attempts as we did. None of that matters to supporters tonight, because what they care about is the end result.

“I’m not daft, I understand the scoreline is the most important stat, but I do believe we are doing a lot of things right. But we have to get back to keeping clean sheets, being hard to beat, and not having to score three goals to win a game, which is the situation we are in.

“We need to win as many games as we can before the end of the season. We are very much in the scrap at the bottom, there are no easy games in this league regardless of who you’re playing. But I feel as if we play again the way we played today in possession, we’ll win more games than we lose.