Stephen Robinson admits Alex Greive answered any questions about his commitment to St Mirren in perfect style against Livingston.
The striker was late back from international duty with New Zealand, with his Australian team-mates Keanu Baccus and Ryan Strain returning earlier from the same trip to Auckland.
Robinson revealed he still didn’t know the full reason why the delay happened, with Greive pointing to a “miscommunication” after Saturday’s win against the Lions.
But the Saints boss was more than happy with the forward’s contribution to the cause as he netted a dramatic late winner to grab all three points for the in-form Paisley club.
Robinson told Renfrewshire Live Sport: “Credit to Alex Greive. I gave him a little bit of stick when he came back, but it’s not quite a trip back from Belfast I suppose, it was from Auckland. He was coming from a long way away.
“It’s a question I haven’t had answered yet. New Zealand are probably a smaller association than the Australian boys.
“They came back Tuesday to train Wednesday, Alex wasn’t back in until Friday.
“We’ll obviously look at the travel arrangements for the boys a lot more closely next time.
“It was certainly the way to answer my question, though.
“He repaid us with a goal and he’s a very humble boy. He’s so committed to St Mirren and actually did all his prep on the plane home, watching the videos we’d sent him.
“He’s got his rewards. He’s a great boy with masses of enthusiasm, so we’ll forgive him.”
Robinson was delighted to see his side battle back from losing Jonah Ayunga to a red card late on and then suffering a Bruce Anderson equaliser just before full-time.
The St Mirren gaffer paid tribute to his experienced professionals in the dressing room, including Ryan Flynn who stepped off the bench to set up Keanu Baccus’ opener, for helping to successfully steer his side both on and off the pitch.
Robinson said: “It wasn’t attractive, but if you are going to stay in the top six you have to win games like that and dig it out.
“We were better after the equaliser. We are very good at letting teams have possession and putting in crosses.
“When they scored we turned it up a gear, passing it around and getting balls into the box.
“Sometimes subs come off and they did. Ryan Flynn came on and gave us a bit of quality. He has been fantastic with the younger boys.
“Flynny, Richard Tait and Joe Shaughnessy have all been fantastic professionals.
“The strength in depth we have now is impressive. We had Alex Gogic getting his first 70 minutes of the season. Greg Kiltie I asked to play out of position and he was excellent at times.
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“It speaks volumes we have that depth and I think in the coming weeks we’ll need it as we will be tested with injuries and suspensions.”
