United drew 1-1, thanks to Lyall Cameron’s 79th-minute strike, to stay level on points with Saints in the William Hill Premiership top six.

Goodwin lamented a failure to turn dominance into victory, similar to last month’s 1-1 home draw with Falkirk. And he felt multiple errors contributed to conceding the first goal to Josh Fowler.

However, United are four games unbeaten and Goodwin remains confident in the growth of his young group. Goodwin said: “We’ve had one defeat in our last six league games – and that was playing against Motherwell with 10 men for 75 minutes.

“The two draws we’ve had, St Johnstone and Falkirk, on chances created we’re kicking ourselves a bit that we didn’t take maximum points on both occasions. But it’s the hardest part of the game.

“It’s about decision-making and quality at times. But sometimes you’ve got to credit the opponent for the way that they defended.

"I’m not going to be overly critical; the overall performance was a very good one. I think you can see from the reaction of our supporters, they really appreciate what they see the players putting in.

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“They can recognise what they’re trying to do. At times, we just let ourselves down a little bit in those key moments. This is a very young group; the youngest squad in the Scottish Premiership.

“These players are very much in the early stages of their careers and I think they’ll only get better.”

St Johnstone couldn’t repeat their masterclass in protecting a 1-0 lead from last Sunday at Aberdeen. But, once again, a team renowned for a possession-based game achieved a result without bossing the ball.

Simo Valakari’s side enjoyed only 35 per cent possession at Pittodrie then 38 per cent at home to United. Saints have shown they can pick up points in the top-flight playing different styles.

Last season’s Championship title-winners remain in fifth with a 12-point haul from nine games. Valakari, whose team travel to Rangers on Saturday, said: “We have known all the time that we are capable of doing well in this league.

“But you never know until you test yourself. We’re still in a learning process – every match tells us more. These last two games have been a learning curve about how to play when we’re 1-0 up.

“The boys are humble – if we stop doing the things we’re good at, it will be very difficult.”