Playmaker Connor Ronan was relieved to grab St Mirren’s crucial late winner against Dundee.
That’s because he felt he’d let his teammates and his new manager down after picking up an early red card against Hearts that eventually led to a 2-0 defeat in Stephen Robinson’s first game in charge.
Having missed the Buddies’ last two games through suspension, the Wolves loanee marked his return to the team in emphatic fashion – nodding home an injury-time header to dramatically seal a crucial Premiership win against Dundee on Wednesday night.
Tomorrow night St Mirren take on Robbie Neilson’s Hearts again, this time in a crunch Scottish Cup quarter-final tie at Tynecastle broadcast live on BBC Scotland.
And Ronan is determined to make another big impact having returned to the Saints starting XI in style.
“A last-minute winner always goes down well,” Ronan told Express Sport. “I’ve been suspended for the last two games so I was just buzzing to be back in the team, straight back in and get playing again.
“I thought we had the better chances. I think if you look at the possession, we definitely had more of the ball and the more clear-cut chances.
“Football goes likes that sometimes. We’ve had a tough past few games and we maybe needed a little bit of luck, maybe a last minute winner to kick-start us again and get us winning again.
“I think it’s obviously been difficult because of the games we’ve had and the change of manager.
“Obviously the Hearts game and myself getting a red card doesn’t help things.
“Did I feel pressure to make up for the red card? Yeah, definitely. I think I let the lads down a bit getting the red card so early in the game.
“It’s tough enough against teams like Hearts, but to have 10 men for so long in the game it’s going to be a tough challenge. Everything else came into it, with the new manager coming in and the pressure of that.
“It’s not ideal. Hopefully I like to think that I’ve redeemed myself with that goal.
“I think just to get that first win and first goal, hopefully we can push on from that now and keep it going.”
Ronan has now overtaken Eamonn Brophy as the Buddies’ top goalscorer this season, with his header against Dundee his seventh Premiership goal in just 24 appearances.
The talented midfielder is almost certain to start at Tynecastle tomorrow evening as his fruitful loan spell shows no signs of slowing down.
And the 24-year-old is targeting sealing a trip to Hampden Park to give the Saints supporters a memorable trip to the national stadium having been locked out of both semi-finals last season.
Ronan said: “It’s a cup game and a one-off game. We’re obviously disappointed to lose the last game, but it was hard to judge that one with us down to ten men.
“I think it will be good to have 11 men for the full game and see what happens. Hopefully we can pull something out the bag.
“I think team morale is massive in football. A last-minute winner always brings the lads together and to get that feeling at the end of the game, it makes a big difference.
“If we can take that confidence into Saturday, then hopefully we can get a result.
“I think we’ve been very professional in the cup games so far. Saturday is obviously going to be a different challenge.
“If we can keep that professionalism and treat it as every other game, that’s all we can do.
“Getting to Hampden is obviously a motivation. Our focus is the league, but to be in this position in the cup is a bonus.
“That will be in the back of our mind, getting to that semi final and playing at Hampden with our fans there. It would be massive.”
