Frail delighted by spirited win over St Mirren

Stevie Frail was delighted by Celtic’s 3-2 win over St Mirren on Tuesday night.

The young hoops played for 86 minutes with ten men after Eoghan O’Connell was sent off but refused to buckle to pull off a win against the odds.

St Mirren took the lead in the 36th minute through Jack Baird but Patrik Twardzik equalised straight from the restart with Holmbert Fidjonsson putting Celtic in front just before half-time.

Former Celt Mark Barrowman equalised for St Mirren with 15 minutes left to play but a goal from John Herron in the final minute gave Celtic the win that puts them ahead of Sevco on goal difference after the Ibrox side had won 2-1 at Inverness Caley Thistle earlier in the day with the penalty coming in the fifth minute.

Two Glasgow derbies over the remaining nine fixtures will have a massive bearing on the title with Frail delighted by the attitude and ability of the players to beat St Mirren.

“We showed a lot of character to get in front at half-time after going down to ten men so early and losing the first goal,” the hoops coach admitted.

“To be honest at 2-2 we might have been quite happy to hold out for a point the way that the game was going but to get the winner through John Herron was excellent.

“Even at 2-2 we forced a few chances which says a lot for the players. There were things we could have did better in the second half but it was about rolling the sleeves up and I think every player was terrific.

“We like to press teams and for most of the match, especially the first half we did that very well. We stopped them from playing when they had an extra man.

“Last week was a poor performance and result against Hibs but this will do the players the world of good, they were on a good run before losing that match and need to pick that up again.”

All three Celtic goals were well worked with recent signing Fidjonsson showing great composure with the second goal.

“It was well worked, Darnell (Fisher) put a great ball in, Holmbert shaped to shoot but cut back inside to finish,” Frail added. “All three were good goals, Patrik’s goal was a great finish and John Herron put the third goal well.

“We also had the bonus of getting Denny Johnstone back which was great for us. Holmbert put in a great shift and it was good to have Denny to come on.

“He got injured in the pre-match warm up against Trabzonspor in January, he got a knock on his knee which was really frustrating because he was going really well at the time.

“Getting Denny back to the level he was at before his injury would be a big boost, he was in great form and can play a big part in the remainder of the season.”