St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin has hailed his new recruit from Aston Villa – a man he wouldn’t have got this time last year.
Jake Doyle-Hayes scored the winner for the Buddies on Saturday as they secured a first win since August over St Mirren. It’s his first goal for the club since arriving from Aston Villa in the transfer window.
Highly-rated at Aston Villa, Doyle-Hayes found himself without a club due to the financial impacts of Covid-19. It’s why St Mirren were able to swoop in for him.
“Jake is quality and we’ve been very lucky to get him,” said Goodwin. “It’s a good bit of business from our point of view. We’re very fortunate to have him because of circumstances and finances at many clubs.
“A year ago we wouldn’t have got Jake as other teams would have snapped him up. He’s showing everyone what a good player he is.
“Apart from his goal his all-round play is very good and he’s not afraid to mix it either.”
Overall, Goodwin was pleased with the 1-0 win over the Lions. He says the victory has been in the pipeline for a while now but it wasn’t a pretty affair in West Lothian.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Goodwin. “We’ve been on a poor run of form in the league. But since all the Covid shenanigans and the lockdown we’ve come back with a good draw against Dundee United and now three points here today.
“Hopefully we can continue in that vein. It wasn’t a fantastic game, it never is here. The pitch doesn’t allow it and Livingston don’t allow it either. They are fantastic in what they do in terms of their energy and application.
“They don’t give opposition a lot of time on the ball and we had to match them in that. I felt we did that particularly well. There wasn’t a great deal between the teams but, being biased, I will say we slightly edged it.
“When I look at the squad I’ve got when everyone is fit and healthy, I’ve got great confidence in that group. We showed a side of our game that really pleases me.
“We have good technical players in the team but at times we’ve lacked a little bit of grit. And we showed that today in abundance. That’s why we ended up just shading it. It had 1-0 written all over it and I’m just grateful we were able to get that all important goal.”