Stephen Robinson hails ‘professional’ display as St Mirren beat St Johnstone

Posted Sunday, February 25, 2024 by PA

Stephen Robinson was delighted as his side returned to winning ways with a comfortable 2-0 victory over St Johnstone.

Mikael Mandron netted the decisive second goal after playing a role in the opener when his shot struck the post before finding the net off the back of visiting goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov.

It was the perfect response to their defeat at Livingston last weekend, and keeps St Mirren in fifth place in the cinch Premiership, two points behind Kilmarnock.

“I thought it was comfortable, I felt we were in total control of the game,” Robinson said.

“It’s strange, football, because we played fantastically well against Livingston last week and didn’t get anything out of it.

“Today it was a very professional performance and very clinical when we needed to be.

“We’re delighted with the three points. We probably could have done more with how much we controlled it, but it was scrappy at times.”

Mandron played a key-role for the Buddies, bouncing back from the disappointment of missing a penalty in last week’s defeat to Livingston.

The Frenchman has moved on to nine goals for the season, and his gaffer was full of praise for his reaction to a conversation between the pair at the turn of the year.

“We had a conversation with Mika six or seven weeks ago and told him what we felt his attributes are,” said Robinson.

“He should be holding the ball up, winning more headers and challenging more.

“His finish for the second was excellent. It’s harsh to take that first one off him but no doubt they will.

“We’re delighted with him and it shows that even at 29, you can still improve and he’s doing that every day.”

Craig Levein provided an update on striker Adama Sidibeh after the striker collapsed on the full-time whistle at the SMISA Stadium.

Sidibeh received lengthy medical treatment and will now undergo further checks at a local hospital.

“He’s stable, he collapsed,” said Levein.

“The doc said he had low blood pressure. He’s had lots of tests, he’s conscious and appears to be OK.

“He’s going to the local hospital for further tests just in case we missed something.

“He did get a knock on his head but was fine when the physio went on, there were no symptoms of problems.

“He stayed on the park. We had a chance pretty late on and maybe the keeper caught him. Maybe that led to him lying on the ground, I don’t know. We need to get further checks for peace of mind.”

The events following the game were clearly playing on the mind of the St Johnstone boss, though he admits his team were well below-par as they rarely threatened the St Mirren goal.

The McDiarmid Park side are now just two points ahead of Ross County, who occupy the relegation play-off place.

“We were consistently poor, I felt we played into St Mirren’s hands,” said Levein.

“We continually gave the ball away, made the wrong choices and put ourselves under pressure.