St Mirren manager Oran Kearney reckons that Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Livingston may prove to be invaluable in their fight against Ladbrokes Premiership relegation.
The Buddies netted late on through Ryan Flynn to secure their first league victory of the year and turn the heat up on their relegation rivals on a bitter Paisley day.
They’re now just a point behind Dundee, and four off Hamilton, and Kearney thinks the result could be pivotal.
“There’s nothing that enthuses players more and gives them more confidence than a result on the pitch”, the Northern Irishman said. “There’s nothing that I can say that would be as powerful as what they achieved today.
“It wasn’t pretty but we got the three points. And I said to the players to get ready for another 10 of those because that is pretty much what this time of the season is all about.”
Kearney also praised his defence, and in particular new goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky, as they chalked up their first clean sheet in 11 matches.
He said: “The clean sheet pleases me. I don’t want to talk about my goalkeeper because I want to keep him under the radar. He’s been absolutely exceptional for me since the word go and he’s turned out be exactly what we wanted in that role.
“He probably hasn’t got the credit that he’s deserved so far. There’s some games where he’s pulled off double and triple saves and we’re still losing by two or three goals. Credit to him and the guys in front of him.”
Livingston boss Gary Holt bemoaned his side’s inability to take a point from a game that they perhaps just shaded. The West Lothian club have now lost seven of their last nine matches in all competitions, and although they still sit well clear of the bottom three, Holt still wants to see more from his side.
“You need people on there to see the game out when the conditions are like that”, he said. “I don’t think anyone came here and really enjoyed the game but when it got frantic in the last 10 minutes we should have killed it a bit more.
“We shot ourselves in the foot and gave them three points. Simple as that. Sometimes a rubbish 0-0 away from home is a good point on a day like this.”
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