Ben Gordon made his first start for St Mirren this afternoon in the match away to Hibernian. An outing of mixed emotions for the defender.
“I was obviously happy to play but disappointed with the result at the end, but I’m happy to get my first start and hopefully take it from there.”
It has been a strange couple of months for Ben having been out on loan to Alloa who were managed at the time by Jack Ross and now being brought back to Saints, again under manager Jack Ross.
“It was a strange one. I’ve played the game for quite a while and I would say I’m an experienced player and you try and learn to not be surprised in football but it was one of those where you play it by ear and sees what happens. There were obviously lots of rumours and as I say it was a strange one, but you get your head around it and get on with things.
“It [coming back to St Mirren from being on loan] was one that kind of happened naturally, I didn’t try to force things, I just wanted to see what was going on. I obviously went to Alloa to get games and I did that while I was there under the gaffer. It was just something that happened naturally and I’m happy to be playing football.
“With him bringing me to Alloa it showed me that he had seen me play and that he was happy with how I played football so that gives me confidence but once you come back it is like playing for another gaffer and you hope to pay him back for putting you in the team.”
With Andy Webster and Gary MacKenzie out due to injury today, Ben had the opportunity to stake a place in the centre of St Mirren’s defence.
“Hopefully as that’s how football works, you hope to go in when you get a chance and look to hold your place and keep the jersey but we’ll see how things go and develop. But, yes that is what you hope to do when you get a chance.”
After Morton on Tuesday, Saints will face one of Ben’s former clubs, Dumbarton, next Saturday but he admits that playing against former clubs is something that doesn’t bother him too much.
“It’s been a while since I played for Dumbarton but I play against former clubs just about every season now so it’s not a huge deal for me now. But it is a big game and we need to get points on the board as soon as possible.”
Despite the poor run of form for Saints Ben believes that the atmosphere at the club under the new gaffer is a positive influence.
“When a new manager comes in you get a bit of a lift and you hope that training will pick up and sharpen, and training has been good and people have enjoyed it so hopefully we can take that into the games, high tempo and pressing, and get points on the board.”
