Celtic loanee Kwon Hyeok-kyu's St Mirren debut given glowing report - 'he was running the game'

The South Korean midfielder was given the full match as the Buddies progressed in the Scottish Cup

St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson hailed Kwon Hyeok-kyu following the Celtic loanee’s debut in the 1-0 Scottish Cup win over Queen of the South.

The 22-year-old joined Celtic in the summer for a fee in the region of £1million but he was dispatched on loan by Brendan Rodgers after failing to break into his plans. Kwon has already made a positive impression with his new team-mates at St Mirren and that was reinforced with a standout display against Queens. Bigger challenges lie ahead than League One opposition but Robinson was delighted with his impact after strolling through the 90 minutes.

“Kwon’s not played in months but he’s a good player and just needs game time,” Robinson said. “We are delighted he got the 90. We saw glimpses, he has got a lot of talent, he and Caolan Boyd-Munce dominated the game, when we get Keanu Baccus and Mark O’Hara back, we will be strong in that area. We were looking at about 60 minutes for Kwon but I thought we looked dominant in the game so he wasn’t doing loads of running – he was running the game. We thought it would be beneficial for him to get 90 minutes, psychologically. We are delighted with him.”

Kwon Hyeok-kyu was one of St Mirren's best players as they overcame Queen of the South in the Scottish Cup.

St Mirren should have won by a bigger margin as they missed several chances and had two goals controversially ruled out for offside while Queens failed to have a shot on target. Other Scottish Premiership clubs were knocked out to lower-league opposition and Robinson admits complacency was not an option for his side. “Everybody expects you to win these games four or five nil,” he admitted. Hearts won in the last minute of the game with a set-play. Aberdeen had a little scare last night but they were efficient and professional to get it done – that’s what you have to be. There’s lots of good coaches in Scotland now at every level and teams are organised. It’s credit to Scottish football because nobody turns up and wins five or six nil.”