St Mirren face 'series of cup finals' to avoid drop - Gary Teale

Gary Teale took charge as St Mirren boss in December

Gary Teale says his St Mirren side must survive a series of must-win "cup finals" to avoid relegation, starting against Motherwell on Tuesday evening.

The Buddies travel to Fir Park bottom of the Scottish Premiership, seven points behind their opponents.

"It is a cup final in my eyes and every game is going to be like that," the St Mirren manager told BBC Scotland.

"The most important one for us get three points is against a good Motherwell side, who are in form."

While St Mirren have lost three straight matches, Motherwell will be seeking a third consecutive victory, while Ross County have moved 10 points clear of the Buddies after seven games without defeat.

The Paisley side face their closest rivals in their next two games and Teale realises that any defeat could prove fatal to their hopes of survival.

"It certainly wouldn't be a very good position to be in," he said ahead of the first of seven remaining fixtures.

"Mathematically, we would still have a chance with the games that would be left, but it would be a very big ask.

"We have to go to Fir Park and hopefully get three points.

Ross County and Motherwell have opened up a gap between themselves and St Mirren

"I am not looking any further than that, because this is a huge game for us."

Teale was heartened by the fighting spirit shown by his players in Friday's 2-0 defeat at home to leaders Celtic.

"Since I became manager, the performances have been fairly decent in the majority of the games," he said.

"I need to tell the boys to keep creating chances. That has probably been the biggest problem with our season - not converting the chances we have been creating.

"Looking at the stats the other day, on chances created, we are probably around mid-table, but our conversion rate is the reason we are where we are.

"We just need to keep believing. We have not managed to go on a run at any point this season, hence where we are in the league. So it would be nice to put that right."

Teale took charge in December and insists he has no regrets about stepping up from his player-coach role after the sacking of Tommy Craig.

"There is a lot of tension," he said. "When you're sitting bottom of the league in your first managerial position, it's probably not something you enjoy.

"But the job itself is one I really relish and is one I've always wanted to do.

"It's a massive challenge and one I'm looking forward to, but only if we get as many victories as possible between now and the end of the season."