ST Johnstone manager Tommy Wright claimed his squad was lacking in quality following their early European exit.
His side lost 1-0 in Lithuania to suffer a 3-1 aggregate defeat by FK Trakai and follow Rangers out of the first qualifying round of the Europa League.
The Perth side had plenty of possession but Joe Shaughnessy failed to make the most of three headed chances — two of them sitters — and Maksim Maksimov netted in the 88th minute as St Johnstone struggled to break down their opponents in the final half hour despite only facing 10 men from the 57th minute.
Wright said: “We put two decent crosses into the box all night and their keeper made two saves from them, but the number of times we got into positions and our final ball was pretty poor.
“We have no complaints, we haven’t done enough, we have lacked quality in the final third and that has killed us.
“It kills us at times throughout the season, at home as well, we don’t have the quality in the squad to make as much as we should from the opportunities we get. Because our approach play up until the 18-yard box was excellent. Our final ball let us down all night.”
Former Sheffield United midfielder Stefan Scougall made his first start alongside former Port Vale left-back Scott Tanser, but Wright has seen Danny Swanson and Tam Scobbie depart for better offers at Hibernian and Dundee United this summer.
And he had a clear message for chairman Steve Brown.
“We gave two goals away, you could argue three, and that’s been the difference,” he said. “They have probably defended better than us and we have lacked that bit of quality, but I know that. I know that with the squad we are working with, we need to try to get more quality in.
“I have nagged the chairman to get more quality in and try to get us up to the next level. If we don’t, we will end up with frustrating performances like that. We have to either go with a smaller squad or get more investment into the squad. That’s the bottom line.
“We are a good side, we are hard to beat, but when it comes to games like this when we need to break teams down, we don’t have that quality. We are the ninth or 10th budget in the league and when we come to Europe, that’s where it gets highlighted most.”
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