St Mirren all access as Stephen Robinson has Euro target and lost zero faith over top six schedule

Turning up at St Mirren’s Ralston training ground last week was strange.

The buzz wasn’t indicative of a 2-0 defeat to Kilmarnock – but Stephen Robinson’s side are a top-six team who are now going for Europe. Everyone said hello and music was playing loud from the gym. And as Robinson walked into the room for his exclusive Mailsport interview, the mood was matched by the St Mirren gaffer.

He explained: “Now it’s sunk in it wasn’t the way we wanted to do it but, as I said on Saturday, the players have earned the right to a poor performance. The top six wasn’t decided against Kilmarnock. It was decided over the other 32 games where I think we’ve been excellent.

“It was more relief. We’ve been in the top six for the vast majority of the season so it would have been a massive disappointment if we dropped out of it at the last hurdle. You enjoy

Saturday and Sunday then my mind switched to the Hibs game. I don’t enjoy things for too long. If you sit on your laurels you tend to stand still.”

Asked if he thought top six was a possibility when he took over in February 2022, Robinson replied: “Yes but then we hit all the financial problems that I wasn’t aware of when I came into the club. St Mirren were sitting in a good position but people forget how close they were to the bottom as well.

“The players have brought the town together with the energy in the stadium and some of the quality football they’ve played. They have earned the right to be in the top six and now we have had time to settle down, we want to achieve more.

“We want to get into Europe. We’re on the same points as Hibs, people are saying the draw has not been kind to us but I think it has. We have two opportunities straight away to put points on the board and