LEE MAIR expressed his delight at finally getting into the St Mirren team for the first time this season - and revealed it was only his determination to prove boss Danny Lennon wrong that kept him at the club.

With Jim Goodwin and Marc McAusland installed as first-choice picks in central defence, Lennon told Mair in the summer he was surplus to requirements and free to leave.

Mair, however, decided he had no intention of moving on with a year still on his contract and elected to stick it out. For a while it looked as if his final season would be spent on the bench or playing Under-20s games but an injury to McAusland gave him his chance in the 1-1 draw with Aberdeen on Monday night.

Mair admitted it was a worrying time when he wasn't being picked and thanked Lennon for being "the bigger man" by allowing him to return to the team.

He said: "It was a concern being frozen out because the manager told me I was surplus to requirements. He told me we had enough centre-halves at the club with Darren McGregor, Marc McAusland, Jim Goodwin and some of the youngsters coming through as well.

"He told me if I could find a club then I could go. Well, I like it here and don't want to go so I said I would stay and fight for my place. That's what I've done.

"I never really wanted to leave so I just thought I'd keep my head down and work hard. Luckily my chance came.

"You have got two options when you are out the team: you can go in the huff and go about with your head down or you can work twice as hard to get back in.

"Fortunately I have worked hard and got back in so now I need to keep my place.

"It was a sore one to take (being told he could leave) but I just thought, 'I'll prove you wrong'. I am quite stubborn.

"It takes a bigger man to admit their mistakes. I am not saying he has made a mistake but to bring someone back in after freezing them out is a big decision."

Mair admitted he was starting to dread Saturdays without football.

He added: "I was shopping with the missus. I went to most of the games but games like up at Inverness and Ross County, I never went to.

"I was just sitting at home listening to the radio and it was a nightmare. But I kept working hard and I got my chance."

There were mixed emotions for St Mirren on Monday night, frustration at failing to hold on to their lead going into the final six minutes of the game but also satisfaction at a strong team performance that Mair hopes will augur well ahead of Saturday's trip to Tynecastle.

He added: "We are down there fighting and everyone to a man came off the pitch knackered because they gave their lot. I think the fans appreciated that.

"I don't know why it has taken that long for a performance like that. But we can build on it and hopefully start climbing the table."