St Mirren

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St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson insists there is no pressure on his players as they chase a third successive top-half Premiership finish.

The Buddies are ninth in the table with four matches until the split, but only trail Motherwell in sixth by three points.

St Mirren go to Fir Park on Saturday before matches against Kilmarnock, Dundee and Ross County - all teams in the bottom half.

Despite those favourable fixtures, Robinson says they are unburdened by the prospect of making history.

"Our goal every season should be to stay in the Premiership, that should be our top goal, and success is staying in the Premiership," he said.

"Nothing has changed because we've got two top-sixes in a row. People have to remember it was 40 years before that happened, and we've done it twice in a row.

"Doing that more often than the 40-year period is the long-term aim of the football club of course, so we're under no pressure.

"The teams that put the millions into the club and have big individual backers are under the biggest pressure.

"We can go and enjoy the game, enjoy playing the way we do, and we'll play with everything and give absolutely everything to make sure we are a top-six side three years in a row, but we can play without fear, we're not the ones under pressure."

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Motherwell have lost striker Apostolos Stamatelopoulos to a broken wrist just as he was set to return from a calf injury.

Stephen O'Donnell returns and Marvin Kaleta is pushing for fitness, while Aston Oxborough will play a bounce game next week.

Shane Blaney, Sam Nicholson (both knee), Jack Vale (Achilles), Steve Seddon (ankle), Ross Callachan (hamstring), Paul McGinn (thigh), Zach Robinson (Achilles) and Archie Mair (hand) remain out.

St Mirren striker Mikael Mandron has been ruled out for up to four weeks with a knee problem, while Evan Mooney will miss the rest of the season after having ankle surgery.

Alex Iacovitti is set to return after a hamstring problem, but Conor McMenamin is still out.

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St Mirren have been dealt an injury blow with Mikael Mandron ruled out for up to four weeks because of a medial knee ligament injury.

The French striker, who has netted five in his past seven games, was forced off in the 5-2 defeat to Celtic at the start of the month and is now set to miss the Buddies' four remaining pre-split games.

Midfielder Evan Mooney, 17, has undergone ankle surgery and won't play again this season, but defender Alex Iacovitti is set to return to the squad for Saturday's trip to face Motherwell and Conor McMenamin is expected to be fit after the international break.

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• Motherwell have won both of their two league meetings with St Mirren this season, last winning three in a row against the Buddies in April 2015.

• St Mirren have only won one of their last seven away league games at Fir Park (D2 L4), a 1-0 victory in September 2023.

• Motherwell are looking to win three successive league games for the first time since September 2023 under Stuart Kettlewell.

• Although St Mirren have only won two of their last 10 league matches (D1 L7), both of those wins have come away from home (Aberdeen in January and Rangers in February).

• A league-high 65% of Motherwell's goals in the Premiership this season have been scored in the first half of games (22-34). On the other hand, St Mirren have conceded the lowest ratio in first halves of any side in the division this term at 36 per cent (17/47).

Mark Jardine
Fan writer

With no senior football to take in last weekend, a bumper crowd shuffled into the main stand at the SMISA Stadium on Monday evening to support the Saints' Under-18s in their Scottish Youth Cup semi-final against Dundee.

The young Buddies have garnered much positivity this season, well deserved, for their style of play and a succession of big results.

In this competition alone, big wins over Alloa, Caledonian Braves and Hearts had fans dreaming of silverware on top of the usual hopes and dreams for the first team's production line. Bringing the side into the club's stadium for the home ties in that list has been very well received.

Recent graduations to senior appearances by starting right wing-back Callum Penman, now loaned to Arbroath, and Evan Mooney have brought increased attention - though neither have then been available for the cup's latter stages.

This age group, if not for their own success, may also have had exciting winger Ethan Sutherland (now at Wolves) and rated centre-half Murray Campbell (now at Burnley) to call upon.

The return to St Mirren of Stephen McGinn as Under-18s coach has felt to many like a homecoming. There is an argument that the McGinn family are to St Mirren as ravens are to the Tower of London. There should always be at least one on the payroll.

The notion his leadership of this promising age group is akin to an apprenticeship does not feel ridiculous to suggest.

On the night, however, it wasn't meant to be. Two goals from Mikey Hunter, the second a stunning strike from range, booked Dundee's ticket to the final and rightly so.

More than 1,000 Buddies gave the young team their full encouragement, including the presence of the Northbank section responsible for so much of the noise on senior matchdays.

In prospects such as Struan Thompson, Jack Barr and Thomas Falconer, there is every chance they'll be seeing a lot more of the club's young talent on your average Saturday afternoon in the same stadium.

Mark Jardine can be found at Misery Hunters, external

St Mirren should have been awarded a penalty in last Saturday's league loss to Celtic, says Scottish FA head of refereeing Willie Collum.

Alistair Johnston was ruled to have challenged Roland Idowu fairly as the visitors led 3-2, with the Premiership leaders going on to win 5-2.

in the SFA's latest edition of The VAR Review, Collum said: "For us, this is a penalty kick. This is a reckless challenge.

"The outcome here should have been penalty kick and yellow card."

However, Collum felt Killian Phillips should have been sent off against Hearts in St Mirren's Premiership defeat on 26 February.

The midfielder was initially red carded for an elbow on Jamie McCart, but the on-field decision was downgraded to a yellow on review.

Collum believed Phillips' challenge merited a red, even though it was not an elbow.

After back-to-back league defeats, St Mirren sit ninth in the Scottish Premiership table, three points behind Motherwell in sixth.

With the split fast approaching, the Buddies are solely focused on climbing the league table and attempting to secure another top-six finish.

You know your club best, so what is the one thing regarding St Mirren - good or bad - nobody is talking about?

Let us know., external

Mark Jardine
Fan writer

Such is the degree of VAR-driven woe blasted in the direction of St Mirren fans this season, I would now accept as fact the suggestion we are the targets of some SFA-backed Punk'd revival. See also: Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, Beadle's About, Noel's House Party or the shortlived Rio's World Cup Wind-Ups - depending on your personal vintage.

Let's get the formalities out the way - Celtic scored five and Hearts scored three. Fair enough. There shall be no rewriting of history by this petulant keyboard warrior.

Toyosi Olusanya had a few golden chances he should have put away. Ryan Alebiosu conceded a clumsy penalty. Richard Taylor didn't have his best Wednesday night. Killian Phillips, on another night, might not have received the benefit of doubt when his Edinburgh red card was overturned.

On both nights, the Buddies showed plenty of what they're capable of before ultimately falling away in the last half hour or so.

Entire seasons for clubs like St Mirren are decided on fine margins, whether that be routinely collecting single-goal victories or falling to the odd goal in tight contests.

For what feels like the 10th time this season, the weekend is over and most Saints fans are awaiting the tedious punchline of KMI panel consensus on another possibly game-changing error or omission.

The Buddies have made their way through a four-game stretch against Edinburgh and Glasgow opposition, with an unexpected win at Ibrox (insert your own quip here about Philippe Clement, Barry Ferguson etc) their sole reward. A precarious sixth-place standing has turned to ninth-placed nervousness, equally close to third as 12th.

What lies ahead now is, to put it simply, season defining. Four consecutive games to take us to the split, all against opposition of similar position, station or frustration to ourselves.

Wrestling a near full complement of points from these fixtures could still see an unlikely third top-half finish be delivered. Any less, and handing those points to the teams around us in the quagmire, could lead to a relatively nervous run-in.

In this topsy-turvy campaign of unexpected drama and repeated hard knocks, preventing that nervy run-in would undoubtedly count as a job well done.

Mark Jardine can be found at Misery Hunters, external

BBC Scotland Sportscene pundits Michael Stewart and Cammy Bell rave about Declan John's stunning goal for St Mirren against Celtic.

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Watch all the highlights from Celtic's 5-2 win at St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership.

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We asked for your views on St Mirren's 5-2 defeat against Celtic.

Here's what some of you said:

Douglas S: Once again, Saints denied a stonewall penalty when 3-2 down. VAR never intervened - but that's the reason we have it. Had it been at the other end Celtic would have got a penalty. Saints were brilliant but must take their chances.

Douglas M: Easy to look at this result and think that Saints were routed by a good Celtic team, but the reality was that Saints certainly didn't deserve a 5-2 defeat. The teams were much closer than the finishing margin. Yes, Celtic improved after the substitutions, but Saints ran them close for long periods of the game.

John: Yet again done out of a clear penalty when we were 3-2 down. What's the actual point of having VAR?

Stephen: We were marvellous in our press, just a little bit wasteful in front of goal. Denied another stone wall penalty by VAR. We need VAR to actually work to have a chance in a game like this!

Alistair: Our boys put in so much effort and if Toyosi Olusanya finishes any of those three chances, we would have got what we deserved. On the other side, the decision not to give a penalty is ridiculous, the officials seemed to have taken no time at all to dismiss it.

Paul: What a disgrace that penalty wasn't given. What use is VAR when it doesn't intervene for this type of situation? Celtic go up the park to make it 4-2 when it could and should have been 3-3.

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• Nicolas Kühn has assisted seven goals in the Premiership this season (one in this game), no player has more.

• Daizen Maeda has scored in his last three games in the Premiership (four goals in total).

• Yang Hyun-Jun has contributed to goals in his last three games in the Premiership (three goals, two assists).

• Daizen Maeda has contributed to goals in his last three games in the Premiership (four goals, 0 assists).

• Celtic have scored in 27 of their 29 games, more often than any other team in the Premiership this season.

• Celtic have scored in each of their last 10 games in the Premiership, scoring 35 goals in that run.

• St. Mirren have scored in their last three games in the Premiership, their longest run of games with a goal in the competition since a run of four games from 14 December 2024 to 29 December 2024.

• St. Mirren have scored in each of their last three games in the Premiership, scoring five goals in that run.

Celtic are now just three wins away from retaining the Scottish Premiership crown after seeing off St Mirren in a seven-goal classic in Paisley to extend their lead at the top of the table to 16 points.

If Brendan Rodgers' side win their next two league games against second-top Rangers and Heart of Midlothian, they will travel to Perth in the first week of April knowing a win over St Johnstone will wrap up a fourth consecutive title.

They were made to work extremely hard for their victory by a St Mirren side that refused to lie down and twice came back to equalise before a fine late double from from Yang Hyun-jun either side of an excellent goal from Daizen Maeda.

Japan forward Maeda now has 13 goals from his last dozen games, while South Korean winger Yang - whose fine assist set him up - looks a much-improved player, and his two-goal cameo may make it hard for his manager to leave him out of the starting XI.

St Mirren fans, were you in Paisley on Saturday evening or following the action from home? Either way we want your views on the game. Have your say., external

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St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: "I don't think many teams press Celtic like that and create that many chances but we didn't take enough of them.

"That's probably been the story of our season - we can't afford a striker that gets 20 goals. There's very very good points in that performance but we want to come out with three points.

"It's a penalty. It's very clear, the Celtic bench were very clear on it. It's not given, they go up the other end and score. Football is very cruel at times.

"The decision changes things but we still go and concede the goal. If you keep it at 3-2 and he doesn't give the penalty, the game is very much still alive.

"There's four games to play, 12 points to play for and that can make a huge difference in the standings.

"The top six is hard to get into, we've overachieved in the last two seasons, we know what we're missing but financially that's hard to do. to still be in the running it's very much a case of how many points we can pick up in the next four games."

Kheredine Idessane
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Home boss Stephen Robinson will no doubt have mixed emotions.

He will be feeling the bitter sting of defeat with disappointment but also knows his side contributed fully to a fabulous game of football.

They gave Celtic a real run for their money, drew several top-class saves from Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and will no doubt rue the concession of a needless penalty just before half-time that made their job even more tricky.

The energy, pressing and organisation of this St Mirren side caused Celtic a fair few problems and, if they can keep up the intensity in the run-up to the Premiership split, they will still fancy their chances of making the top six for a third consecutive season.

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Ryan Alebiosu and Jonah Ayunga (ankle) are doubts for St Mirren after coming off against Hearts in midweek.

Alex Iacovitti is back in training but the game comes too soon while Conor McMenamin (calf) and Evan Mooney (ankle) remain out.

Greg Taylor returns for Celtic, who remain without James Forrest (foot) and Paulo Bernardo (ankle).

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St Mirren are in contracts talks with in-form striker Mikael Mandron and two other players, manager Stephen Robinson has confirmed.

Mandron, 30, had netted just once this season until a burst of five goals in his past six games.

The French forward arrived from Motherwell in summer 2023 and his deal expires this summer.

"I think we offered him a new contract so he decided he's going to start scoring goals and try and get more money out of us! I'm sure that's his ploy," Robinson said.

"But Mika is a very important part of the squad. Even when he is not scoring, he brings people into the game.

"He's a character around the dressing room as well and he's a really intelligent footballer. He's added goals in the last month to his game and we're sure he'll continue to do that.

"I'm hopeful for everybody to sign but everyone's got options. We're still speaking actively to Mika and two other players as well in the current squad and trying to get business done."

Robinson, meanwhile, expects plenty of twists and turns in the run-in of the top-six chase as his side prepare to host Celtic on Saturday in a game where they have "nothing to lose and everything to gain".

The Buddies have won only one of their past five games in all competitions - a 2-0 victory over Rangers at Ibrox - and slipped out of the top six with a 3-1 defeat at Hearts on Wednesday.

Following the visit of the league leaders, the Paisley outfit face bottom-six sides Motherwell, Kilmarnock, Dundee and Ross County before the split.

"There's five games left before the split, a lot of points to play for and I think there will be a few twists and turns in the next few weeks," Robinson said.

"I said the three games against Rangers, Hearts and Celtic are all bonus points and there's nothing to fear and as I said before, everything to gain.

"People will drop points when we don't expect it and probably gain them when you don't expect it. So it's something to look forward to. It's to be embraced not feared.

"Celtic are a very, very good side. But they're not invincible and we have to believe that, we have to turn up and play at the top of our game."

• St Mirren have lost their past seven meetings with Celtic in all competitions, last losing eight in a row against the Parkhead club in December 2012.

• Celtic have only lost one of their last 20 away games at St Mirren across all competitions (W16 D3), going down 2-0 in September 2022 under Ange Postecoglou.

• St Mirren are winless in their past four home league games (D1 L3), last going longer without victory in December 2021 under Jim Goodwin (6).

• After winning 10 successive away league games from April to December 2024, Celtic have since won just two of their past six on the road (D2 L2), losing 2-1 at Hibernian in their most recent away outing.

• Celtic's Daizen Maeda has been directly involved in more goals in the Scottish Premiership this season (18 – 11 goals, 7 assists) than any other player. The Japan international has 13 goal involvements (9 goals, 4 assists) in his last 10 league appearances – as many as his previous 41 beforehand.

Sportscene pundits Michael Stewart and Richard Foster analyse the VAR-prompted decision to downgrade midfielder Killian Phillips' red card to yellow in St Mirren's midweek defeat at Hearts. (Available to UK users only)

We asked you for your thoughts on the 3-1 loss to Hearts at Tynecastle that dropped Hearts out of the top six.

Here's what some of you said:

John: We are way too inconsistent and have been throughout the season. We can't seem to hold on to a lead, and maybe we should think of strengthening the defence over the long term.

Ryan: Two horrendous mistakes by big Richard Taylor, who has otherwise been tremendous this season, derailed what looked like another masterclass from Stephen Robinson.

Extremely frustrating and symptomatic of the season, looking probable that we will miss out on top six unless we can pull it out the bag in the next five games.

W: Two very obvious mistakes in defence led to two goals, but we tend to forget the mistakes made up front which were good opportunities and were missed.

Overall it was a tight performance, we actually were probably better than Hearts for large chunks of the game, but you can't give easy ball away to reasonable players and then not expect to get hurt.

Eddie: Two mistakes cost us the game. Taylor is going to be a class player but he really needs to do the simple things just put the ball out of the park. Now we need to move on, the next five games are vital to get points from. We really need to start taking our chances.