By Kyle Gunn 

St. Mirren boss Alan Stubbs knows that the BetFred Cup loss to Aberdeen wasn’t good enough and expects a reaction tomorrow against Livingston.

Saints were hammered 4-0 in the second round of the League Cup at Pittodrie last weekend.

But it’s back to Scottish Premiership duty this weekend and the visit of fellow promoted side Livi to the Simple Digital Arena.

The West Lothian outfit will be under the guidance of new boss Gary Holt after the surprise departure of Kenny Miller, a man who Alan Stubbs is interested in signing.

READ MORE: Stubbs hints at Miller interest 

Stubbs said: “We've been to Ibrox away and Pittodrie away and we have just come up to the top flight and we need to learn fast when we go to these grounds.

"Take Rangers and Aberdeen if they were to play Celtic, Hibs or Hearts then they would find it tough going to those grounds.

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"So, it is going to be tough for us. The one thing that disappointed me about the Aberdeen game was that I just felt that some of them did not apply themselves right in the game.

"There is a way that you can get beat at times and some of the players did not show that. I thought they did not show enough fight.”

READ MORE: Lee Hodson looking forward to playing football again

The manager says he is capable of getting a better performance out of his charges but believes that the players are strong enough to know themselves that they need to raise their standards.

He continued: "If it means me getting a reaction from them then so be it.

"Players have a responsibility to react themselves and that is what I expect irrespective of who we were playing whether it was Livingston, St Johnstone, Dundee, Hamilton, Hibs, Hearts or even Celtic.

"I expect a reaction because Saturday was not what I expect from the team.

“What is not acceptable was a performance like last weekend.

"The players know that. They are not soft or stupid."