St Mirren's manager says the club weren't expecting to lose Kristian Dennis - but Carlisle United made the striker "a substantial offer".

The frontman joined the Blues late on transfer deadline day and could make his debut at Rochdale tomorrow.

Experienced striker Dennis had been with Scottish Premiership side St Mirren since the summer of 2020.

Buddies boss Jim Goodwin is now facing up to a striker shortage with Eamonn Brophy suffering an ankle injury the day after Dennis's move to Brunton Park.

Goodwin, speaking to Renfrewshire Live Sport, said: “Hindsight is a great thing.

“We weren’t expecting to lose Kristian in the January window.

“It wasn’t even a thought in my head. I was pleased having him in the squad, but a club in England came in and made Kristian’s agent a substantial offer for next season as well."

Dennis signed an 18-month deal with the Blues, who hope his goals can help fire them to League Two safety.

Goodwin added: “I wasn’t willing to commit to Kristian for next season, I thought we’d see how the season panned out.

“If he’s got a run of games and scored some goals the contract maybe would have been there then.

“I need to be fair to the players. He hadn’t been playing a lot of games and was heading into the final five months of his contract.

“He’s at an age where the next contract is so important.

“He’s got people relying on him and there’s a human element.

“I felt we had good striking options to afford to let Kristian go.

“Unfortunately, the night after then Eamonn goes and gets this injury. That’s the way it goes.”

Dennis scored one goal in 16 appearances for the Paisley club this season, having netted five in 24 last term, including one in a 2-1 win at Celtic.

United are hoping the frontman can reproduce the form he showed in good goalscoring spells with Notts County, Chesterfield and Macclesfield Town.