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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Ben Ramage

Connor Ronan says St Mirren spell has been best of his entire career and discusses possibility of staying

Connor Ronan refused to shut the door on returning to St Mirren next season.

That's because the Wolves loanee has had the best spell of his football career so far in Paisley.

The 24-year-old won't be short of suitors come the end of the season, especially having bagged yet another incredible goal on Saturday night against Hearts in front of the BBC cameras.

While that sublime strike wasn't enough to send the Buddies through to the Scottish Cup semi-finals, with the Jambos eventually sealing a 4-2 victory, the memorable effort was Ronan's eighth goal of a prolific campaign with the Saints.

And while he's always spoken of his desire to break into Wolves' first team, if he is sent out on loan again he's very open to the possibility of returning to the SMISA Stadium with Stephen Robinson having already spoken of his desire to keep him.

When asked about the chance of returning to St Mirren next season, Ronan told Express Sport: "Possibly. I still have a contract at Wolves.

"I will obviously have a think and a chat with Wolves.

"But I have loved my time here. The fans have taken to me from day one and this has probably been my best spell in football so far.

"Obviously I have had a fair few loans at different places, but this is the one I’ve enjoyed the most so far.

"Has he (Robinson) got a chance of keeping me? Possibly.”

Ronan has made a habit of scoring incredible goals for the Saints, with his latest at Tynecastle added to other emphatic finishes against Rangers, Aberdeen and Hibs earlier this season.

The playmaker wishes his wonder strike equaliser against Hearts had counted for more on Saturday night, but insists there are positives to take from the defeat as the Buddies turn their focus back to their top six tilt.

Connor Ronan's thunderbolt levelled the scores in the second half before Hearts took control of the tie (SNS Group)

Ronan said: "It’s disappointing, I would have taken getting to the semi final over that goal all day long. But it’s always nice to score a goal like that in front of the fans and celebrate with them. It would just have been so much better if it counted for something.

“The first half was a big positive. We were unlucky to be 2-0 down. It took their two goals for us to start playing and then we dominated. Brophy got the goal and gave us confidence to push on and we finished the half strongly.

"We never came out for the second half though. Maybe we were a bit leggy after all the pressure we put on them.

"They just seemed to be getting out and we couldn’t take the pressure any longer.”

While Ronan's goal will likely be a goal of the season contender, the talented midfielder admits he didn't even see it fly past Craig Gordon.

He added: “It’s up there with the Rangers goal as the best of my career. When the ball dropped I knew I wanted to get a touch out of my feet. Then go for it.

"It sat up nicely and I didn’t really see it to be fair. It went through a few bodies and then I just heard everyone cheering - so I ran off to celebrate!”

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