St Mirren: Danny Lennon hails shooting skill of Graham Carey

St Mirren manager Danny Lennon says he has learned to expect goals of outstanding quality from Graham Carey.

The Irish winger hit an unstoppable dipping strike from 35 yards past Hearts keeper Jamie MacDonald on the stroke of half-time in a 2-0 win.

"He's got that in his locker and it doesn't surprise us because we see him doing it on a daily basis," Lennon told BBC Radio Scotland.

"That's what he's capable of and the timing of it was absolutely fantastic."

Carey's effort followed an early penalty from Paul McGowan after Hearts defender Darren Barr pulled down Lee Mair in the box.

And Lennon was delighted to get back to winning ways after failing to register a victory in their previous three games.

They now leapfrog Hearts to take up tenth spot in the Scottish Premier League.

The Buddies boss had made five changes to the starting XI for this match with David Barron, Lee Mair, Carey, Sam Parkin and Lewis Guy coming in.

"We've had a hard busy schedule and we're still in three major tournaments," explained Lennon.

"With that little bit of success comes more games and that's why you have a squad. This was the ideal night to make those changes.

"Those players have shown that they're ready to come in and impress, ready to show they're the ones that want that starting jersey.

"That's great competition for any football club and a great headache for any manager.

"We've developed a good squad of players here and it's great at times like this when the games are coming thick and fast that everyone's ready to go."

On Saturday, St Mirren host Celtic, who they defeated in the Scottish League Cup semi-final in January.

"There'll be a lot of people saying 'can lightning strike twice?' My answer is 'why not?'" Lennon added.