Stephen Robinson aims to welcome Keith Lasley to St Mirren as Premiership club

Stephen Robinson is in a rush to secure St Mirren’s top-flight status and further plan for a bright future along with his former colleague Keith Lasley.

Lasley, Robinson’s former assistant manager at Motherwell, will move to Paisley as chief operating officer at the end of the season.

Robinson’s first priority is to ensure Lasley is joining a cinch Premiership club with the Buddies six points ahead of second-bottom St Johnstone with five games left, starting with Saturday’s visit of Hibernian.

“It’s an absolutely fantastic appointment,” the St Mirren manager said. “Contrary to popular belief, I had absolutely nothing to do with it. The wheels were in motion long before I came to the club, it was a thorough process with some very good candidates that I had nothing to do with.

“But I think it’s a tremendous appointment, to have a football man, who has been in Scottish football for so long. To have someone of that ilk responsible for all things football shows the club is moving in the right direction.

“Keith decided a few years ago that that’s the path he wanted to go on. He is doing his sporting director course. He is a Motherwell legend, it’s St Mirren’s gain and Motherwell’s loss.

“It’s a fantastic appointment from the board and one of many things that are going on in the background.

“It’s difficult, because we have an immediate job right now to finish as high up the table as we can, but Keith is one of many good appointments.

“We are bringing in a head of recruitment that we have agreed with, the link with the academy is excellent, the training ground is back up and running, and we have three players agreed on pre-contracts. There are a lot of good things happening in the background.

“I have to deal with the immediate