Stephen Robinson hails Conor McMenamin after Northern Ireland star opens St Mirren goal account against Celtic

The 28-year-old made the move to Paisley this summer and has started in all 10 of their league matches to date, but a maiden goal had eluded him.

That was until the seventh minute at Celtic Park when he headed home from Greg Kiltie’s cross to give the Buddies an unlikely lead.

Robinson’s men were ultimately beaten 2-1 by the reigning Scottish champions as David Turnbull and Oh Hyeon-gyu secured three points for the hosts, who sit five points clear of second-placed Rangers.

McMenamin opening his club account was a huge positive for Robinson and the Lisburn-born boss feels it will help the Northern Ireland international kick on.

"It's a monkey off his back,” he told the club’s media channel. “He puts himself under a tremendous amount of pressure.

"We are really happy with him.

"We changed after half-time and played him in behind the striker which helped us a little bit more. We gained a little bit more territory in terms of our press.

"With tiredness we had the opportunity to shake it up with forward players and we did. It almost worked.

"I'm pleased for Conor and I'm sure he will grow in confidence with that goal. He will be a big player for us going forward."

Robinson was also full of praise for assistant manager Diarmuid O’Carroll, who helped devise a game plan which almost caused a major shock.

The former Irish League striker joined St Mirren in February 2022 and was appointed to Michael O’Neill’s Northern Ireland backroom staff earlier this year.

"My assistant manager Diarmuid O'Carroll has put a tremendous amount of work into this match because you only have two days,” added Robinson. “It was everything we worked on and we just got beat by a quality finish in the end.

"It was a fantastic performance but ultimately we didn't get the result we came here for.

"We were confident we could get something and we proved that during times in the game that we are a match for Celtic.

"We started really brightly with a great first goal and then we sat back and were too deep.

"The last 10 minutes of the first-half were better and we got in at half-time and reorganised. I thought we contained them really well.

"Sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say it was a fantastic goal.

"We had three or four chances after that which shows our character and quality.

"We're a good side and Celtic know they were in a game when perhaps on paper we've no right to be in a game with them."