Robinson in awe of team for sticking to big plan

STEPHEN ROBINSON last night praised his St Mirren players for sticking to the game plan that delivered his first-ever managerial triumph over Celtic.

The Paisley side made it four wins in five after a disciplined, industrious performance delivered goals either side of half-time for Mark O’Hara and Jonah Ayunga.

Claiming a deserved first win after restricting the Scottish champions to just two shots on target, the beaming Paisley boss said: ‘I’ve had points and draws but not a win.

‘You need things to go your way, a bit of luck and decisions to go your way. You need boys to be right on top of their game and they were today.

‘It’s a fantastic result, but I don’t want to speak about me as a manager. I want to speak about them, the boys deserve the credit.

‘I said to them before the game, this is as prepared as we’ve ever been. We had that extra time do it. Even with set-plays, when the ball comes back on the pitch. Everything.

‘I have to give a lot of credit to my assistant manager Diarmuid O’Carroll. And so much credit to the players for taking the instructions on board and ultimately doing it.’

Unbeaten for 12 months in the league, Celtic’s last defeat came to Real Madrid in the Champions League. Asked if the Saints side were now on a par with the kings of Europe, Robinson (below) laughed: ‘In terms of where we are as a football club, we’re really not.

‘Listen, we won’t get too carried away. We’ve won a game of football, we’ve been very hard to break down this season.

‘The biggest disappointment is the St Johnstone result (a 3-0 defeat). And I think we’ve made up for that today. But there are things I still think we can be better at.’

Challenging his players to close down the space and give Celtic no time to play their natural game, the tactics worked like a treat when O’Hara opened the scoring before half time. The physical Ayunga then defied Celtic claims for a foul to nod the second goal into the net after 53 minutes.

‘It wasn’t too different to how we play in general, just maybe a bit deeper than usual because of the quality and possession Celtic have,’ said Robinson.

‘The players deserve all the credit. You can do plenty of things in training but they have to be the ones to implement that and they did it for 96 minutes with the intensity and concentration they put in.

‘In a moment or a split second, Celtic can change the game. We never gave them an opportunity. We didn’t give their creative players any room to play and I thought we were fantastic on the break. Potentially, it could have even been more.’

Asked if six Celtic changes to the starting line-up played into St Mirren’s hands, Robinson pointed to the vast resources gap between the two teams.

‘What, you mean Kyogo playing up front, Maeda and Abada? No. Look, whatever they do they’re a top side, they’ve got a fantastic manager in Ange and they’re incessant, they’re non-stop.

‘I think any time I’ve played Celtic or Rangers, it’s when you land on the ball that’s the biggest thing. Everybody thinks it’s how you defend against them. Of course, that goes without saying. But when you land you have to play, you have to pass. And we did that today.’

Opening goalscorer O’Hara beat Celtic playing for Kilmarnock at the age of 16 in 2012.

Admitting his goal yesterday made the latest victory a ‘special day’, the midfielder said: ‘There would not have been a lot of people that had us beating Celtic, but the manager drilled a lot of belief into us during the week and to see it come off is an amazing feeling.

‘I think the last time they were beaten in the league was about 38 games, so you have to really enjoy it when you do so.

‘From the very first minute, I felt looking around that everyone was on it. There was a real feeling we could do something and, as the game went on, we were solid at the back and that was the main thing.’

O’Hara sensed at an early stage that Celtic were there for the taking.

‘I don’t know whether it was because it was in front of the cameras or because it was an early kick-off, but usually Celtic are the ones coming out fast and blowing teams away,’ he said. ‘But we were matching them in those early stages and that gives you a bit of confidence that you can go and get something from the match.

‘They can blow teams away in the first half of matches and they didn’t do that to us.’