Ross County fell to a late 2-1 defeat against St Mirren who came from behind to triumph in Paisley.
The Staggies had led through Brian Graham’s strike midway through the half, but goals from Sean McLoughlin and Sam Foley towards the end of each half consigned the Dingwall men to defeat.
The result sees County drop out of the top half of the Premiership into seventh place, with only four points separating them from bottom placed St Johnstone.
County made three changes from the side which went down 3-1 to Aberdeen before the international break, including a change between the sticks as fit again Nathan Baxter was drafted in to make his debut in place of Ross Laidlaw. Michael Gardyne was absent with a foot injury, while Lee Erwin also dropped to the bench to make way for Ross Stewart and Billy Mckay.
County started with attacking intent, with Josh Mullin seeing a tempting delivery cut out by the Saints defence within the opening minute, while Ewan Henderson saw a strike deflected into the hands of Vaclav Hladky.
The home side also threatened, with skipper Kyle Magennis and Jon Obika both sending efforts over.
County’s breakthrough arrived in superb fashion on 24 minutes however, with Graham exchanging passes with strike partner Mckay before finding the bottom right corner with a sweet low strike from the edge of the box.
The Staggies were close to doubling their lead on 32 minutes when Graham’s flick played Mckay in behind the hosts’ backline, with Hladky getting down well to meet the striker’s low first time effort.
County were pegged back just three minutes before the break however, with Saints forcing a scrappy equaliser when Ryan Flynn looked to be upended inside the box following a corner, however the ball broke for defender McLoughlin to steer home from close range in any case.
Saints threatened at the start of the second half, with Ilkay Durmus seeing an effort deflected wide and Danny Mullen sending a wayward strike high over from a promising position.
The home side piled the pressure on as the second half wore on, with Callum Morris getting a vital touch on Durmus’ delivery to prevent it reaching the head of Obika.
The Staggies survived a let-off on 73 minutes when Flynn’s cutback from the byline looked to have set up a free shot for Durmus, however the Turkish winger made a fresh air swipe at the close range attempt.
County staged a late rally, with substitute Erwin seeing his header across goal from a Blair Spittal delivery cleared off the line by McLoughlin.
Saints broke to claim the winner on 88 minutes however, with Tony Andreu feeding the ball into the path of Foley whose powerful strike was beyond the reach of Baxter as it nestled home off the underside of the crossbar.