Saints striker Jonah Ayunga believes Rangers were incredibly fortunate to leave the SMiSA Stadium with a point.
The powerful forward thought he’d helped his Buddies to a second win against the Old Firm in Paisley this season.
Having scored in their impressive 2-0 win against Celtic in September, the 25-year-old bagged the opener early in the second half of Saturday’s clash before the Ibrox side netted from the spot late on to salvage a point.
Ayunga felt decisions were consistently going against his side in the latter stages of the eventful match, in which he insisted St Mirren were unfortunate not to claim another big three points at home.
He told Renfrewshire Live Sport: “I’m happy with a point but we feel it could be more if we had just held on. It’s still a good result in the end.
“It didn’t feel like 11 vs 11 after 60 minutes. They were getting every decision, every 50-50.
“That contributes to you feeling under pressure and there’s only so long you can keep repelling attacks without getting anything [from the referee].
“It felt like it was coming towards the end, but some of the decisions didn’t help.
“Before the penalty there’s a foul on Mark O’Hara in their half that doesn’t get given and you think VAR will check that whole phase. I don’t think they did. It’s frustrating.
“It’s the same feeling we have on the season as a whole. We will take it, but we definitely know we could have done more and deserve more throughout the season. We have got a point but we think it could have been three and we think we could have been higher in the table.
“I think we had better chances than them and deserved to win it.”
Despite being disappointed at dropping two points, Ayunga was still pleased to make his mark in yet another massive game in front of the Sky Sports cameras.
Having found himself on the sidelines at Morecambe before moving to Paisley, he paid tribute to boss Stephen Robinson for keeping the faith in his ability to make an impact up front alongside strike partner Curtis Main.
When asked if he felt he was a big game player, Ayunga said: “Definitely. The big occasions are what you come up to this league to play in.
“Personally I should have had a couple more in other games and I am still hungry to get more goals.
“It was a good battle. The ball was coming up to me and Main and it was sticking and we were bringing people into play and definitely giving them a game.
“I think I should have been playing at Morecambe. It’s good to be playing up here, so it’s thanks to the gaffer for putting me in and the team’s doing well.”
Having bagged seven goals in the stripes already this season since joining the club in the summer, Ayunga is targeting plenty more when the Buddies return from the World Cup break.
He added: “For the Rangers goal Main has flicked it on at the near post, I have then tried to spin and hit it.
“I have not actually seen the save, but I have turned round and the ball is still there and I’ll always take it from a yard out.
“It could have been a better result, but it’s a positive result to take into the break and we just need to make sure we come back and kick on even more.”
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