Jonah Ayunga savours ending St Mirren goal drought as hard work pays off

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Jonah Ayunga admits scoring his first goal in 10 months lifts a huge weight off his shoulders.

The St Mirren striker climbed off the bench and hit the target to seal Wednesday night’s 3-1 Premiership victory over St Johnstone.

It was a special moment for the Kenyan international who last found the back of the net in December 2023 during a 3-0 romp over Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

Having battled back from a torn ACL, Ayunga has been in and out of Stephen Robinson’s line-up but feels this goal was a reward for all his hard work.

“It’s been a long, long time since I last scored,” he said. “So, I’m really happy to be back involved and obviously to get the goal as well.

“It went into Mikael Mandron. As soon as he took a good touch like he did, I knew that the second one was going to come to me. I just made the run, made sure I got the ball under control and finished it.

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“It was a relief. I’ve been waiting a long time to get back on the pitch and have the opportunity. So, it makes all the time you’re not in the squad, and not in the team, and you’re training and not getting that reward; it makes it worth it.

“I’m hoping I’m back in now and we can start picking up results. That goal gives me a lift and now I’m hungry for more.”

Ayunga insists he has had tunnel vision when it comes to forcing his way back into the team – and refuses to dwell on what might have been. The 27-year-old recognises the manager has plenty of options with the forward line particularly well stocked.

“You can only deal with what’s in front of you,” he added. “You miss a game, you can keep thinking about the fact you missed a game or you can turn up and try and train correctly and get back in the plans.

“So, I’m trying to not think about it too much. Just go in fresh every day and try and train the best I can. There’s so many bodies up front and obviously we needed them for the European push.

“Now there’s a lot of competition for places so you’ve got to do something special to get in – and then obviously, when you get in, you’ve got to try and stay in.”

Boss Robinson has always backed Ayunga to succeed and praised his contribution against the Perth Saints.

Ayunga said: “I think everybody knows that the gaffer has brought them here for a reason so everyone’s got that belief in the back of their heads. You’ve just got to turn up and train, do everything right, and then it’s his decision whether you’re playing or not.”

The Buddies snapped a four-game losing skid against Simo Valakari’s side and are now preparing for Saturday's visit of Ross County.

Ayunga added: “That win was huge, massive for the team given the run we’ve been on. Even though we conceded first, a lot of people would say their heads were going to drop. But they didn’t.

“Hopefully it is a catalyst. I think we’ve gone back to basics and I think you saw that with the Rangers performance. We could have got a point out of that one arguably.

“Then against St Johnstone we needed to keep up with that energy. Now we need to keep up that form and keep pushing on.”

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