St Mirren leave out Van Veen & Brown amid court cases

Jaden Brown joined St Mirren from Lincoln City

Kevin van Veen and Jaden Brown have been left out of St Mirren's squad for Saturday's Scottish Premiership game against Ross County while the club investigate the players' separate appearances in court.

Dutch striker Van Veen, who the Paisley club said missed Wednesday's win over St Johnstone through injury, has appeared in court charged with domestic abuse, with his case continued until 28 November.

And left-back Brown is awaiting sentence the following day after the 25-year-old admitted three driving offences at Paisley Sheriff Court on Thursday.

Earlier this month, defender Shaun Rooney left St Mirren by mutual consent after being charged with assault following an incident in a Glasgow takeaway.

Following Brown's court appearance, St Mirren announced on Friday: "Given the findings of the court, the club requires to further its own ongoing investigation into the player's actions.

"Jaden will not be available for Saturday’s match. We shall make no further comment at this point."

St Mirren said they were also aware of the ongoing criminal investigation into Van Veen.

"The club will conduct its own investigation into this matter and Kevin will not be available for Saturday’s match," they stated. "We will make no further comment during this process."

The 33-year-old is on loan from Groningen having been on loan to Kilmarnock last season and having joined the Dutch club from Motherwell.

Englishman Brown joined St Mirren permanently this summer after ending last season on loan from Lincoln City.

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson admitted "it's been challenging on and off the pitch" but pointed to Wednesday's 3-1 win as evidence that the team had risen to them.

"That's what I am paid to do, worry about the football, pick the best team I can and get results and we had a terrific result on Wednesday night, a brilliant performance at Ibrox so things on the pitch are moving in the right direction and that is my sole focus," he said.

Robinson insisted that his players "are in a positive frame of mind" and there was "a really good atmosphere round the place".

However, on players' individual responsibilities, he added: "I am in control of the players for three or four hours of the day.

"People are grown adults, the football club is not in control of players 24 hours a day, but everyone is well aware of their responsibilities, how they should behave and the vast majority do."