ALLOA skipper Andy Graham refused to lay the blame for their painful cup exit solely on their tactical switch.

The veteran was involved as the Wasps were pegged back from a two goal lead to be dumped out of the Scottish Cup by Premiership St Mirren.

Boss Jim Goodwin held his hands up in the wake of the result for his decision to sit back and try and catch Saints on the break after the restart.

But, Graham was adamant the players had to shoulder the responsibility and he called on the squad to learn from their mistakes.

The 35-year-old told Advertiser Sport: “The manager tried to take the blame but it’s not just a simple case of the manager says we sit back and that’s why we lost.

“We were 2-0 up against ten men. I didn’t use that as an excuse in the changing room after and don’t want to use it as an excuse.

“We as players are responsible for what happens on the pitch and we should still have had enough quality to see it through.

“Our decision making should have been better. We were told all about the danger of Kyle McAllister and told to show him down the wing rather than let him cut inside.

“If they had scored three really good goals, we would have just held our hands up, but we’ve gifted them goals.”

Alan Trouten had opened the scoring for Alloa with his 16th goal of the season before Kevin Cawley struck to make it two before half time.

However, an error from Neil Parry allowed Cody Cooke to slot home before Ethan Erhahon and McAllister strikes sunk the Wasps with less than five minutes to go.

Graham said: “We were dominating the game even before the sending off.

“They weren’t really creating all that much and only had a few half chances. Even when they scored - and it was unlucky from Neil - I think we should still see it through.

“We are responsible and we have got to learn from it and be braver on the ball. We need to be more professional and calm the game down.

“I have been in the young players’ position before and they need to learn from this.

“That is the difference between players who have okay careers and those who will go on to achieve great things; which I fully believe the young boys here can do.

“We just need to get over it, although it’s hard for me because at my age you start to wonder how many Scottish Cup runs you have left.”

Alloa next travel to Championship leaders Ross County as they look to bounce back in the perfect fashion.

“It’s now a huge game on Saturday and one that will have more of a bearing on our season than the cup,” Graham added.

“If we are sitting on Sunday having taken points off Ross County then I would be more than happy to have gone out of the cup.”