SAINTS boss Gordon Strachan paid tribute to his squad after the FA Cup finalists were beaten 2-1 by his former club Abderdeen in last night's Friendship Cup clash in Scotland.

Strachan had agreed to take a full-strength squad to Pittodrie to help celebrate The Dons' centenary.

And he was true to his word, fielding 11 players who had been involved in Saturday's Cup Final including England pair James Beattie and Wayne Bridge, who each played the first half.

Strachan insisted Saints played their part in a competitive occasion even though the acute disappointment of ending up as Cardiff losers finally caught up with them.

"I made the promise to Aberdeen some time ago, it was not a promise made by any of my team so I thank them for what they did here.

"They approached it right and in a respectful manner. This was the only way I could help Aberdeen's centenary and I am very grateful to the players for doing it right.

"That meant a lot to me. They are now looking forward to a good holiday and they deserve that because they have worked so hard."

Saints were 2-0 down inside 20 minutes in front of a crowd of over 8,000 and Strachan said: "We started a bit slow which did not surprise me after Saturday.

"We were all on a high because of the atmosphere which has kept us going for the past few days.

"It was an incredible occasion and that got us through on adrenaline until yesterday when it hit us that we had been beaten.

"Then we had a two-hour delay on the journey here and it was a bumpy flight and it got to the players a bit. But after the first 15 minutes we did the right things and got hold of the game and tried to give people what they wanted.

"The players did well by going about the game the right way especially after all they have been through.

"I'm sure they won't be too concerned with the standard of Scottish football right now - they'll be more worried about going on their holidays."