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St Mirren manager Tommy Craig admitted to being confused by the red card shown to player-coach Jim Goodwin during his side's defeat by Motherwell.

The Buddies lost 1-0 at Fir Park in Craig's first match in charge, with Goodwin shown a second yellow card for dissent.

However, Craig insists he could see no reason for the decision.

"I asked the fourth official to explain it to me, and at that point, even he didn't know why," said Craig.

The dismissal was Goodwin's fourth in a St Mirren jersey, with the midfielder also racking up 52 yellow cards.

"I really don't know why he was sent off," added Craig. "He's devastated."

The new Buddies manager was also baffled at how his side had lost his first competitive match in charge, having dominated much of the play.

"I'm absolutely delighted with the performance," he explained. "We created enough chances to win a couple of games.

"The way we went about our business in almost every sense - apart from finishing - I thought we were excellent.

"I said before the game we've got to learn how to win games where we don't play so well.

"Well, that came back to hit me in the face, because we've played incredibly well and we've lost the game.

"And quite frankly I can't find a reason why we've lost it."

The Paisley boss is confident that, if his players repeat such a level of performance, they will find the net.

"I've already brought in players to support [injured striker and captain] Stevie Thompson," he said.

"Callum Ball, James Marwood, Ross Caldwell - they're all capable of scoring goals.

"We've got the ammunition to go and get goals, it's just a case of doing it."