Exclusive:Oyegoke revels in 'best feeling' he's had in a Hearts jersey as he admits to only having one thing on his mind

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Walking along the corridor within the depths of Tynecastle, you could hardly wipe the grin of his face. And no wonder.

After all, scoring your first professional goal is always a moment to savour. And my goodness, was it worth the entrance fee alone.

Receiving the ball from Malachi Boateng’s first-time pass in acres of space wide on the right, you could hear the cries of ‘shooot’ as Daniel Oyegoke drove at St Mirren’s backline. With time to weigh up his options roughly 25-yard out, there was only one thing on his mind.

A simply stunning goal that will have surprised everyone in the stadium. Even him. For Oyegoke, this was a real watershed moment in his blossoming Hearts career. The knee slide to match was similarly impressive form the Londoner. You could tell just how much the goal meant to the 21-year-old former Arsenal and Brentford youth as he soaked up the adulation from the home crowd.

Hearts defender Daniel Oyegoke curls a shot from long-range round Scott Tanser of St Mirren into the net | SNS Group

“Without a doubt, it's not even comparable. This is the best feeling I've had in a Hearts jersey so far,” Oyegoke beamed in an exclusive interview with the Edinburgh Evening News. “I'm absolutely buzzing because it was my first professional goal as well.

“From the position I was in, it was either play it down the line to Yan but the full-back kind of blocked that off, so it only gave me one option really. I knew that I was going to shoot, there was nothing else on. There's a little break, it's one of them ones, if you shoot and score, great. If you don't, it's not the end of the world. But I always knew I was going to shoot and I think that helped me in that situation.

“It’s definitely up there (as one of the best goals I’ve scored) and my phone will be going off the hook I’m sure. It was my first home start of the season also, so hopefully I can build on that and keep showing what I can do. SIGN UP TO THE HEARTS DIGEST PODCAST ON SPOTIFY OR APPLE

“I’m happy, the boys are happy. We've got to bottle up this feeling now that we’ve experienced it for the first time in the league this season and make sure we feel it every week. It's just about remembering that feeling and chasing it again and again every week, so that come five o’clock most weekends hopefully we’ve got the three points.”

Hearts fans haven’t had a great deal to cheer about so far this season, but Oyegoke’s strike was one of just four high-quality finishes in Saturday’s dismantling of lowly St Mirren. This was a hugely impressive start to Neil Critchley’s reign as head coach. The Englishman admitted himself that he couldn’t have dreamt of a better start. The Jambos moved off the foot of the Premiership table in the process.

But what was the most pleasing aspect of the performance for right-back, Oyegoke? “A clean sheet, first and foremost. It was great from the boys, we defended together. The new gaffer has come in and told us we've done well but he's already looking at what we can do better like getting more control in the second half.

“But 4-0 against St Mirren is a top performance and exactly what we needed at this point of the season. It's not always gone our way until now, so hopefully we can build on this and this can be the turning point. We've got a massive job to do on Thursday now then another massive game on Sunday so hopefully we can replicate what we did on Saturday across both of those games and I think we should be alright.

"The quality of our first goal was unbelievable, The one, two with Kenny and Shanks on the edge of the box. Blair's goal was a joke as well. But look, we've got good players and the gaffer has managed to get it out of us straight away. For us to take in what information he's given us... and he's been very careful with how much he's given us in a short period of time, I'm buzzing we got the win and I'm happy for Neil.

“For us to perform like that in his first game in charge is massive and it helped to shut the critics up as well.”

Last week, Critchley inherited a squad lacking identity, organisation and in desperate need of a confidence-booster. Well they certainly got it in Gorgie. The former Blackpool and QPR boss can now start to implement more of his ideas and look forward to a European tie against Omonia Nicosia of Cyprus on Thursday before sampling his first taste of an Edinburgh derby against Hibs at Easter Road on Sunday.

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Oyegoke has been impressed by the early impact made by his fellow countryman, both on the training pitch and in the dugout in recent days. Not one to shout or gesticulate, Critchley was a calm figure on the touchline and made effective substitutions, perhaps with Thursday night in mind.

Academy starlets Adam Forrester and James Wilson were introduced and both showed up well during the second half, with the latter getting on the scoresheet courtesy of a late tap-in. Critchley boasts a excellent pedigree when it comes to giving youngsters a chance at senior level, something Hearts supporters in particular like to see.

The conveyor belt of talent emerging through the club’s B team offers signs of real encouragement. And Oyegoke was delighted to see both players grasp their opportunity to impress, a theme he can only see continuing with Critchley at the helm.

He added: “Yeah, 100 per cent. I'm so happy for them, especially for Jamesy to get his goal. He works very hard every day, a good mate of mines. Both of them are unreal guys, top people so I’m buzzing for them.

“I think the gaffer's honest and he'll do whatever he thinks is right for the team to put us in a position to win. If that's what he believes will, then that's what we'll do and us as players will back him all the way."