BRAD Lyons would be forgiven for wondering what Scottish football has in store for him next. A social media sensation on the very day he signed for St Mirren due to his apparent likeness to Harry Potter, only in the madcap world of our national sport could the 21-year-old midfielder then find himself red carded on his debut, earning a second yellow for simulation no less.
But not only did he magically have it rescinded by the judicial panel, his ten-man team-mates overturned a two-nil deficit to pull a rabbit out of the hat in his absence. While a four-nil hiding at Celtic Park left the Paisley side rooted to the bottom of the Ladbrokes Premiership table, Lyons reckons St Mirren have the fighting spirit to escape from their current predicament. They face Hibs on Sunday.
“It has been mixed emotions for me,” said the on-loan Blackburn Rovers midfielder, who worked with Oran Kearney in his past life at Coleraine “Saturday, apart from the result, wasn’t a great start for me with the red card. My first professional game and my first red card...it’s a learning curve.
“I was pleased it got rescinded,” he added. “I knew it wasn’t a second yellow at the time but the referee only had a split-second to make the decision. I wouldn’t want to do their job, no matter how much you paid me. They need to handle the abuse and make quick decisions, but I am just glad it was overturned and I am free to play.
“The boys dug deep without me on Saturday and that shows the morale we have. We showed we are up for a battle and I am glad I will be able to play in the next round.”
While Lyons savoured the experience of playing at Celtic Park, St Mirren’s luck wasn’t in. Their cautious game plan was undone by conceding two poorly-defended early goals. With Celtic new boys Timo Weah and Oliver Burke in rampant mood, but the end the scoreline could have been more emphatic.
“It was a very tough night, but that’s what we expected,” said Lyons. “Celtic are a quality team full of quality players and they keep the ball. We had a gameplan to show them wide and contain them. But it’s frustrating when the first two goals come from set-pieces, from a free-kick and penalty.
“Goals like the first can’t happen at Celtic Park if you need to get a result,” he added. “It’s frustrating and then you had the penalty, which was a tough one to take. But now all concentration goes on Sunday. We need to learn from the Celtic experience and push for three points on Sunday. We are down the bottom and it’s a battle. All the boys know that. But the most important thing is that we concentrate on ourselves. We can only control what we do on the pitch - nothing else. Dundee got a big result on Wednesdaybut we will go out to try to get a win.”
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