Lennon hails attitude of Saint Carey

Carey dropped to the bench for Saturday’s match and despite replacing the injured Steven Thomson after only 18 minutes, he was later substituted himself. Lennon insisted that Carey was unlucky to be replaced and put the substitution down to the pressure Dunfermline put on his side in the latter stages of the game.

“Graham Carey [was] very unfortunate to be left out but we are a squad here,” Lennon said. “Graham was unlucky in that he was on the wrong end of having to come off due to the scale of pressure Dunfermline were throwing at us.

“We had to get more of a balance going across the middle and to stop balls coming into the box. It was harsh on him, but his attitude was first class.”

Lennon was delighted to see St Mirren move up to fifth place in the league table but disappointed at their drop in standards in the second half.

Goals from Kenny McLean and Nigel Hasselbaink put Saints in command, but Joe Cardle’s deflected effort in the second half set up a nervous finish. “They kept at us and I’m a bit disappointed in ourselves,” added Lennon.