Danny Lennon did not even wait until half-time to change his team.

The decision was significant, since it wasn't merely a substitution; tactics and style were also altered. There was a time when the St Mirren manager was reluctant to alter the ethos of his team, but he has become more pragmatic. The result was a place in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Communities League Cup.

The adaptation was essential. St Mirren lost to Ayr United in the same competition last season after failing to break the opposition down, and they faced the same difficulties against Hamilton Academical on Tuesday night. Lennon acted more swiftly this time, though, bringing Steven Thompson on for Lewis Guy to provide another option up front for early diagonal deliveries into the penalty area.

St Mirren dominated the second half, but not by playing the measured passing game Lennon prefers. He had waited too long to change his team and tactics against Ayr United, though, and wasn't prepared to make the same mistake twice. The versatility is essential, since every opponent cannot be overcome in the same way.

"[Hamilton] sat in, so our passing game wasn't on and we couldn't get through them as they had 10 bodies behind the ball," said Lee Mair, the defender who eventually scored the only goal of the game in time added on. "I thought since we had two big strikers then we should just hit them and play scrappy football. It worked, but it is more a Plan B and it shows we have got more to our armour. As a centre-half I wouldn't like to play against big Thommo and big [Sam Parkin] either.

"Maybe we need to start using it more because they are a nightmare for defenders those two, which is probably what got us the result. I don't know if we play too much. Do Spain play too much? I know the way I'd like to play, which is the way we played in the first half, but that never won us the game. You could sit for hours in the pub talking about it, but going route one has got us into the next round and it is about winning games. I would rather take a victory and play horrible than play lovely football and lose."

St Mirren are prepared to be unrepentant. The team reached the quarter-finals of both the League Cup and the Scottish Cup last season, while Mair was part of the team that lost to Rangers in the 2010 League Cup final. The sense among the players is that the side might be capable of a lasting achievement in this campaign, so idealism can be surrendered.

"We have got a right chance this season," said Mair. "You could look at [the Hamilton] game compared to last year [against Ayr] and say we have come on leaps and bounds. Last year, we lost, but we showed grit and determination to win [this time]."