Goodwin is thrilled to silence Dykes
ST MIRREN manager Jim Goodwin praised his new defensive signings and claimed he has never been more relaxed when opponents were shelling balls into his 18-yard box than he was yesterday.
He singled out former St Johnstone captain Joe Shaughnessy for his handling of Livingston’s biggest goal threat, Lyndon Dykes.
‘It probably wasn’t the prettiest game in the world,’ he conceded.
‘Livvy don’t let you get the ball down. We had to stand up and be counted and every player out there put in a shift for the team.
‘Defensively, we looked fantastic and we’ll improve on the attacking front. We knew going into the last 15 or 20 minutes if the score stayed at 1-0 they would chuck everything at us and they did.
‘Jak Alnwick made some great decisions and the ball was like a magnet to Joe. Then there were Marcus Fraser and Richard Tait in the full-back positions. It’s the most comfortable I think I’ve felt throughout my short managerial career on the sidelines when balls were going in the box.
‘I’ve got four real warriors at the back who enjoy defending and Sam Foley in front of them, who’s very disciplined, and then we have a really composed goalkeeper.
‘I like Dykes. He’s a really good player and the fact Livingston want over £1million for him shows how well my two centre-halves did. They kept him very quiet.’
Livingston manager Gary Holt, by contrast, was less than enchanted by his charges’ performance.
‘Of course, it’s disappointing,’ he said. ‘I hate losing football matches and, because it’s the first game of the season, you want to start right.
‘First half we never came out with the hard work, sleeves rolled up, get–in-about-them attitude.
‘We tried to play football and let our talents show rather than do the hard graft first.
‘We were reactive to situations whereas we like to be proactive, getting into areas and getting runners going beyond.
‘In the second half we did that better.
‘We were more on the front foot and had a couple of great chances at the start of the half.
‘But then we lost a really poor goal.’
Meanwhile, St Mirren last night approached Celtic for a season-long loan deal for striker Vakoun Bayo.