ST MIRREN boss Jack Ross has warned his team to ditch the gentle touch if they want to avoid the axe.

The Paisley boss was left seething as his side crashed to a 1-0 defeat in the Betfred Cup to Livingston on Tuesday night.

A second-minute strike from Dale Carrick was enough to put the Buddies to the sword.

Ross reckons the result was a reality check for some players who will need to man up for this season’s Championship campaign.

He said: “It was a soft goal to concede. We need to be stronger physically in our penalty box.

“At the moment I think we are too nice as a team but we will rectify that.

“But it makes the game more difficult when you concede as early as that.

“I’m disappointed in the result but it’s a reality check for us as a group. Individually, some of them can perform much better.”

Jack is now focused on this weekend’s clash against Partick Thistle at Firhill as the Buddies bid to get their Betfred Cup campaign back on track.

He said: “The Livingston game was a reminder to the players that they will have to be at their best.

“It’s also a reminder to the new players that we have to please the crowd at St Mirren.And you have to be  a strong enough character to deal with that. That’s not a criticism of the support –it’s just the way it is. Expectations are high and we helped to create those expect-ations last season.

“They now have a clear picture of what to do here and that is to please the support.

“We need to win on Saturday because we have ambitions of qualifying from the group.”