Wasps ace ready to move on quickly from Raith defeat

The Wasps were caught with a classic sucker punch by Ray MacKinnon's men, just as they looked to be on the ascendancy themselves.

But with another big crunch game on the horizon away to Jim Duffy's high flying Greenock Morton, the former Partick Thistle star has warned there is no time for them to dwell on what might have been.

Flannigan told Advertiser sport: “We are gutted to lose the Raith game because there wasn't much in the game. We have had the better of the first half, but they maybe had the better of the second. We had some big chances in the second half, but things have gone against us and with them getting the goal left us gutted not to at least get the draw. I guess it is those fine margins that decide games, but it is done now and it is important that do not dwell on it for too long. We just need to dust ourselves off, take the positives and be ready to go again for Morton next week. We have a resilient bunch in the dressing room and we have already proven a few times this season that we can bounce back from disappointment. We always knew this season was going to be difficult. It is uncharted territory for the club so we just have to go week to week and we know we can't get too high after wins or beat ourselves up too much after losses.

“We take every game as an opportunity to get something from then we move onto the next one. We do not worry about our lack of goals because if we stay solid at the back we know we can always nick games 1-0. That is why we must instead focus on producing consistent performances – I thought we were good against St Mirren – our overall performance against Raith was good and so if we can keep that up we will be fine. A couple of results back to back would be a huge lift to our confidence and something like that can turn things right around for us. We aren't a million miles away from that so we are not overly concerned at the minute.”

The Wasps passed up three or four clear cut chances to take the lead before Grant Anderson's late strike stole the victory for the visitors, but Flannigan does not believe the blame should placed on the strikers.

He said: “I don't think we can be critical of Chopra or any of the strikers because they have to be there to take the chances and each time someone was on the end of three great moves. On another day Chops could've had a hat trick, but you have to be there to miss them. You see that even at the top level where strikers will very rarely convert every chance. Fair play to their keeper he made a couple of good saves to keep them in the match, but we will win and lose as a team. It was disappointing, but we will take the positives, review the tapes then look to put things right at Morton. I think Michael Duffy has been great for us. The Raith game was probably one of his best performances for us, but he can't control whether or not he is going to score. He is the same as the rest of the squad though, if we can out work the opposition that is the bare minimum for us and then hopefully he gets a wee break.”

The 27-year-old moved to assure the fans that the players are doing everything they can to turn their form around and he sees the Morton game as a real chance to get back to winning ways.

Flannigan added: “I can understand the fans frustration, but we will get the sleeves rolled up and look to give our all for them again this weekend. We go to Cappielow with confidence. It is just another game for us so we will work hard in training in preparation for it. There was absolutely nothing between the sides at our park so it is just who performs best on the day that will claims the points.

“Obviously, they have had a great start with the points they have collected so far and maybe they have shown us that it can be done, but it is a game we believe we can win and it is just about applying ourselves in the best manner. It will be a tough game, but if we can produce the same level as our last two games then that will stand us in good stead.”