St Mirren v Ayr United: Lennon keen to stop Saints handing out ‘gifts’

St Mirren manager Danny Lennon has warned his players of the dangers of handing Ayr any early gifts in their Scottish Communities League Cup quarter-final.

Saints lost 3-2 at home to Hibernian on Saturday after falling behind in the sixth minute when goalkeeper Craig Samson lost possession to Leigh Griffiths.

Lennon was keen to praise Samson for his overall contribution and the way he bounced back, but he is wary that Ayr have shown the resolve and organisation required to take the scalps of three Clydesdale Bank Premier League teams this year.

Brian Reid’s team have knocked Inverness and Hearts out of the competition and beat Hibernian in last season’s Scottish Cup. Although St Mirren beat them in the next round, they lost 1-0 at Somerset Park in a pre-season friendly and Lennon knows they face stubborn visitors tonight.

“They are very difficult team,” Lennon said. “They are very well organised. What we can’t afford to do, as we did on Saturday, is gift teams a start.

“They have proven if they do manage to get into a lead they have something to hold on to. That would make it even more difficult.

“We go into it confident that we are playing in the manner we want to play, it’s just getting that finished article.”

Getting to a semi-final would be a shot in the arm for Lennon’s bid to improve St Mirren this season.

“We understand what a victory would mean to the fans and the community as a whole,” he said. “Getting to Hampden raises the profile at the club and puts a spring in the step of fans.” Ayr manager Brain Reid hopes defender Chris Smith can feature after he was pulled out of the starting line-up against Dundee on Saturday on the advice of the club doctor after suffering concussion a week earlier. Reid said: “We will need to check him out again and if he does not make I can hopefully bring in an experienced defender on a short term deal to play.”

With centre-back Martyn Campbell already ruled out following knee surgery Reid is believed to be closing in on former Hamilton defender David Elebert should Smith not make it.

Regardless of who Reid plays he is looking for an improvement from his men following Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at home to Dundee. He said: “We may have beaten Inverness and Hearts this season but we need to improve vastly from our showing against Dundee. We are taking a big support up with us and we cannot afford to be second to every ball like we were at the weekend. We have lost the element of surprise a bit by winning against SPL sides already but we’ll give it a real go.”