Lennon wants his men to be on song against Taysiders

Oct 26 2012 by Paul Behan, Paisley Daily Express

Buddies boss Danny Lennon has challenged his players to make sure they’re on song against Dundee United tomorrow – after hitting a bum note in last weekend’s thumping at the hands of Celtic.

Lennon went along to the newly-erected Spiegeltent in County Square yesterday to help promote The Spree – a four-day music, comedy and arts festival which is taking place in Paisley.

And he also took time to issue an apology to St Mirren fans for the way his team played in that 5-0 defeat against the Hoops.

Now Lennon wants his players to give the Paisley faithful something to sing about when the Tangerines come to town.

He told Express Sports: “It’s a challenge but we’re relishing it because we want to put things right for the fans after last Saturday. We owe them a massive apology.

“Hopefully, they’ll give us an opportunity to put it right.”

Lennon admits he was surprised by the way his team folded against Celtic but is confident they can bounce back against United.

He said: “I can’t praise the boys’ character highly enough as, in previous games against Hearts, Ross County and Motherwell, we’ve had to come from behind but, last Saturday, that was one key ingredient we didn’t show.

“Their effort was constant but, after 15 minutes, we became individuals, rather than a team.”

Lennon also reckons the Saints squad can learn a thing or two about mental toughness from English Premiership giants Manchester United, who again showed their fighting spirit against Braga in the Champions League on Wednesday night.

He explained: “I watched the Manchester United game in midweek and they were two-down at home to Braga but they won 3-2 and that’s the type of mentality you want.

“Their players are brought up with that winning mentality and it’s an incredible trait to have.

“When we get back to finding what our identity is, we’ll rediscover those previous performances and fulfil our potential.”

Lennon also accepts that he has a key role to play in helping his players to recover from last weekend’s horror show.

He said: “I have to keep reminding them of what they do well.

“We have a philosophy and, last year, we passed the ball for fun but didn’t have an end product.

“Now we’ve added that layer but the players have forgotten what got us to this point in the first place, so I have to keep dripping it into them.”