St Mirren

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Defender Alex Iacovitti has left St Mirren by mutual consent to rejoin Ross County.

The 27-year-old moved to the Buddies last summer from Port Vale on a two-year deal.

Despite being dogged by injuries, Iacovitti made 23 appearances and scored three times for Stephen Robinson's side, including goals in Conference League qualifiers against Valur and SK Brann.

He has signed a one-year deal at County, where he previously played over 100 games before moving south in 2023.

"Alex was very unfortunate as he had numerous injuries last season which made his season really stop-start," Saints manager Robinson said.

"We won't forget his goal away to Brann and the joy that brought to so many people. But Alex is at an age where he needs to play football and we didn't want to stand in his way."

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Keanu Baccus is returning to his "home away from home" after rejoining St Mirren just over a year after leaving for Mansfield Town.

The Australia midfielder made 72 appearances and scored four goals for the Paisley side in his two-year spell before leaving for the English League One side, where he made 43 appearances.

Baccus returns on a two-year deal with the option for an additional 12 months.

"I'm buzzing to be back," said the 27-year-old, who featured at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

"They were some of the best times of my life, on and off the pitch, especially on the pitch.

"It was a year away, but it felt like longer. Knowing the staff and everyone else makes it a little bit easier to settle in. It was definitely a no-brainer and I can't wait to get started.

"I probably call this a home away from home and it's nice to be wanted. I just want to find my form again, continue to grow and learn and help the club as best I can."

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson said: "Keanu has worked with us before so he knows what we want from him and he knows the levels required. He brings a wealth of experience and loads of energy."

• St Mirren have only won two of their past 15 league meetings with Motherwell (D7 L6), and are winless in five (D3 L2) since a 1-0 victory in September 2023.

• Motherwell have only lost one of their past 10 Scottish Premiership away games at St Mirren (W5 D4), a 1-0 defeat in January 2023 under Steven Hammell.

• St Mirren ended the 2024-25 campaign by going unbeaten in their final five Scottish Premiership home matches (W3 D2), and they have won their opening home fixture in both of the past two seasons: 3-0 vs Hibernian in 2024-25 and 2-1 vs Dundee in 2023-24.

• Motherwell have won their opening away game in just one of their past eight Scottish Premiership campaigns (D3 L4), but it was a 1-0 victory at St Mirren in 2022-23.

• In Motherwell's 1-1 draw with Rangers on matchday one, Apostolos Stamatelopoulos had the most shots (five), the most touches in the opposition's box (nine) and contested the most aerial duels of any player (six).

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

St Mirren held firm against the reigning league champions but were undone by a late Celtic goal.

Goalkeeper Shamal George more than played his part in a hugely creditable St Mirren performance against Celtic.

Came so close to keeping them at bay, with a little help from his woodwork.

Mark Jardine
Fan writer

In the last 190 minutes or so of football the Saints have played at Celtic Park, the home side have led for a combined eight minutes.

As a percentage, that's roughly the same conversion rate as Adam Idah on the weekend's evidence.

There are arguments that would contend opening your season account away to the reigning champion on flag day is "sub-optimal" and I'd give them some weight. However, I think it suited Stephen Robinson and I'll tell you why.

As is tradition, the Buddies have not had it all their own way in the League Cup group stage. Bedding in a healthy number of new signings and arriving after only the briefest of Spain-based fitness whirlwinds, the Saints took two games to find their stride. This near-annual mountain to climb seems to disproportionately affect our side and can create just a little disquiet to commence a season.

Having lost five of the side who just scraped to a third consecutive top-half finish, this disquiet can amplify the voices of those who panic early and decide that this is the season where it all falls apart.

Sunday's battling performance against a side of substantial means, and almost all of the possession, was peak Robinson. It was a more in-your-face reminder than your phone alarm on its fifth lap of the snooze function being thrust into your consciousness by a disbelieving spouse (or so I've heard).

New Buddies Richard King, Shamal George, Jayden Richardson and Tunmise Sobowale got the memo and gave every impression that they'll fit right in. Last-ditch tackles, brave plunges into 50/50 challenges and lung-busting chases against Daizen Maeda and the like.

Essentially, it was 110% effort and a deflected pot shot away from the hardest-earned of points.

And suddenly, we're feeling hard done by with a point at Celtic Park and looking like more than the sum of our parts.

Maybe, just maybe, everything's going to be alright once again.

Mark Jardine can be found at Misery Hunters, external

Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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St Mirren defender Alex Gogic admits defeat at Celtic Park was "a sore one" but says the squad will "look forward" to their next fixture, and not lick their wounds.

St Mirren defended stoutly for 87 minutes against Celtic, with a Luke McCowan strike that deflected off Buddies' captain Mark O'Hara being the only breakthrough.

The Saints' rear guard received plenty of plaudits as they frustrated the champions for large periods of the game, very rarely allowing Celtic to create any clear-cut chances.

"Maybe we could have been better on the ball in the first half", Gogic told BBC Scotland. "But we defended so well, and then to concede with a deflection, maybe it wasn't meant to be."

"I think as defenders, we just love defending and we realise that's our first job. We work on it every day. It was a good test for the first game, and I think we did well."

And despite an opening-day defeat, Gogic maintains he and his team-mates will take positives from the loss, especially from their defensive display.

He added: "You want to play against the best players, and obviously they [Celtic] have some of the best players in the league. When you do well, you're confident after it and you're happy with the work you've done."

Next up for St Mirren is a home game against Motherwell. And the Saints defender insists his thoughts will quickly turn to that game and trying to get off the mark this season in the league.

"The games come quick though, you can't sit and look back.

"We've got to look forward and we've got a big game coming up, so we need to go and get three points. I think at home we've always been good, we've always played very well and we always want to get three points. We can't wait for the next game."

Watch the Sportscene panel discuss St Mirren's defensive performance in their 1-0 defeat to Celtic in the Scottish Premiership.

We asked for your views on St Mirren's 1-0 defeat against Celtic.

Here's what some of you said:

William: This was a game played by two very good sides and both had the opportunity to make the final result more than one goal. I thought St Mirren at times rode their luck but they certainly deserved a point. Their defending was excellent and a work ethic to give the supporters a great deal of hope in the weeks to come. It was despairing to lose by a late deflected goal.

Douglas: Basically backs to the wall for most of the match, and any attack into Celtic's last line was hampered by lack of control or any incisive penetrative runs. Yes, you can praise the defence with Richard King looking assured, Alex Gogic stoic and resilient, and Jayden Richardson looking better than in the League Cup. What worries from this performance was the failure of our forwards to hold the ball up, to put in the incisive pass or to take the chance when it was offered. We won't be judged on this game alone, but Motherwell, Rangers and Hibs follow close behind in the league and it will be interesting to see where we are after these four games.

Iain: A disciplined performance, we rode our luck for sure. Thought we were going to hold on. The Celtic subs made all the difference, I wish James Forrest would retire!

Watch all the highlights from Celtic's 1-0 victory over St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership.

Celtic began their Scottish Premiership season with a victory, but were far from convincing as they struggled to break down a resilient St Mirren.

Have your say on the game

Read the match report here

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St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: "If you are going to get beat, you prefer a 25-yarder in the top corner with a bit of quality.

"A deflected goal so late on is frustrating. We are disappointed in the changing room but also know the levels we've shown as well.

"We said whatever the result, we want to show who we are - we're St Mirren.

"We worked on the five or six opportunities to counter and we didn't quite make the passes, but I can't ask for much more in terms of work ethic and organisation - we will show more quality in the final third - so we are proud of the boys but disappointed and that shows how far we've come."

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Celtic winger Jota is a long-term absentee while Manchester City defender Jahmai Simpson-Pusey will not feature even if his loan move is finalised.

St Mirren could include new signing Malik Dijksteel while Evan Mooney has recovered from an ankle injury.

We asked for your views on how St Mirren are shaping up for the new season, which gets under way with a trip to champions Celtic on Sunday.

Here's what some of you said:

James: Every season fills us with expectations but we Buddies never take anything for granted. With a settled backroom team helping with consistency and a squad that has been enhanced by new additions we can hope for another keenly-fought season. As usual, the question of a consistent goalscorer has still to be addressed but our form over the last few seasons bodes well and we can all look forward for our next adventure.

Douglas: St Mirren will do well again this season. Good signings have made the squad stronger and with the expertise of Stephen Robinson, Saints could move up one or even two places in the league.

Tony: We have already been top six three years in a row, it's going to be very difficult to make it four, but fingers and toes crossed.

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Marcus Fraser insists St Mirren will be brave at Celtic Park and have "real belief" of causing an opening-day upset against the champions.

Stephen Robinson's men led through Jonah Ayunga away to Celtic in the final game of last season, but their good performance was overshadowed by James Forrest's record-breaking equaliser in injury time and the Hoops' 13th trophy lift in 14 years.

Asked if the Buddies can improve on the last meeting and win on Sunday, former Celtic defender Fraser said: "I think we can. We've got that belief in the changing room.

"Every game we go into we try and win. The manager will never set us up to go and draw, even the last game of the season, whatever, we go and try to look to win the game.

"We've got that real belief in the changing room that we can go and do that.

"I think this week, leading up to the game, we've watched videos of Celtic, we've trained how we want to play against Celtic and I think everyone really believes we can go and win the game and get a result.

"I think that's really important when you go to places like Parkhead where you're going to be up against it.

"You're going to be up against a good team, you need to defend well at times. But on the ball you need to go and be brave and create opportunities, which I think we've really progressed at over the last few seasons and hopefully we can take that again into this campaign."

Daldeep Kaur
BBC Sport Scotland

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Stephen Robinson is targeting a fourth consecutive top-six finish with St Mirren this season as they attempt to "defy the odds" again.

The Buddies manager believes his side have "raised expectations" and praised his players and staff prior to their opening fixture against champions Celtic on Sunday.

"You've got to try and do it again. Out with Rangers and Celtic, we're the only team that have had three top-six finishes, that's a huge challenge for us now," said Robinson.

"The landscape is getting more and more difficult to do this. When you look at the investment into the bigger clubs in the country, in reality, they should all finish in the top six.

"But football's not played on paper and finance books and we have to upset the odds and be in a position that if somebody doesn't do their job, that is expected of them, that we're able to take advantage of that, which we've done the last three seasons.

"I have huge belief in the players. We've got a core of players who have done that over the last three years. Probably 14, 15 of them have been regularly involved in that and we believe we've added more quality, more pace and different options from the bench as well that perhaps we didn't have.

"You need a little bit of luck, you need a little bit of fortune to go your way and if it does, why not try and do it four years in a row?

"It seems to be that we are expected to get top six and people are talking that we should be challenging for Europe.

"That certainly isn't based on the infrastructure or the finances of the football club. It's based on the players and that's credit to them.

"Credit to the staff, the support staff as well because we've got a very small support staff who do a lot of work in the background that people don't see.

"Together as a small team but a very good team, we believe we've raised the expectations and we need to do the same again, we need to defy the odds."

Daldeep Kaur
BBC Sport Scotland

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Stephen Robinson has been speaking to the media before St Mirren's opening-day trip to champions Celtic on Sunday.

Here are the key lines from his press conference:

• He says St Mirren start the season with the "core of a very, very good squad" after getting in the players they wanted, but it will "take a bit of time for everyone to gel and get up to speed".

• Robinson is targeting a fourth consecutive top-six finish but insists it will be "a huge challenge" and the Buddies have to "upset the odds" as their finances are below what some other clubs have.

• With a small squad and staff Robinson insists St Mirren have "raised the expectations" and "people are talking that we should be challenging for Europe".

• He praised youngsters Evan Mooney and Fraser Taylor and believes he has "21 game-ready players for the first team".

• On facing champions Celtic on the opening day after playing them on the final day of last term: "We're there to spoil the flag day, we're not there to make up numbers. I'd like to think that Brendan [Rodgers] knows we will come and we will have a real go and try and put them under pressure."

• The Paisley side face Celtic, Rangers and Hibs in three of their first four games but Robinson isn't worried by the tough start: "If you watch my teams play, they don't play with fear. We play on the front foot, we press every team. We've got real energy, pace and creativity. We certainly don't fear anybody, we embrace it and we look forward to it."

• He is pleased with the new recruits but is "always looking", although to find players that will enhance their starting XI is "very, very difficult".

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• This fixture is a repeat of Celtic and St Mirren's final league game of last season, a 1-1 draw at Celtic Park. Celtic have won both previous occasions that they have faced the Buddies on matchday one of a league season, winning 5-1 in 1916-17 and 1-0 in 2008-09.

• St Mirren have lost 11 of their past 13 meetings with Celtic in all competitions (D2), while away from home the Buddies have lost 33 of their past 38 visits to the Hoops (W1 D4).

• Celtic have won their opening game in 16 of the past 17 league seasons, the only exception being 2021-22 when they lost 2-1 to Hearts under Ange Postecoglou. When playing at home on matchday one, Celtic have won 22 of their past 23 openers, the other being a 0-0 draw with Kilmarnock in 2007-08.

• St Mirren have won their season opener in both of the past two Scottish Premiership campaigns after only winning on matchday one in two of their previous 13 top-fight participations beforehand (D4 L7).

• Celtic's Brendan Rodgers is unbeaten in 12 league openers as a manager across spells with Liverpool, Celtic and Leicester City (W10 D2) since a 3-0 defeat with Liverpool against West Brom in 2012-13.

Cork City striker Malik Dijksteel has arrived in Scotland for a medical after a fee was agreed for the 24-year-old to allow his immediate transfer after he signed a pre-contract agreement to join St Mirren in December. (Daily Record), external

Read Thursday's Scottish Gossip in full.

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Midfielder Killian Phillips says St Mirren "won't fear" a trip to champions Celtic on the opening weekend of the Scottish Premiership season.

The Paisley side faced Brendan Rodgers' men on the final day of last campaign and led 1-0 at Parkhead before James Forrest's stoppage-time equaliser denied them a famous win.

Phillips, who has four goals to his name already this season after impressing last term, is relishing the occasion at Celtic Park.

"You have to play Celtic three times no matter what," the Irishman told Sky Sports.

"It'll be sold out and it's one of the best stadiums in the world, so it'll be a great atmosphere to play in and I'm looking forward to it.

"I don't think any of us will fear them. We'll go over there and implement our game plan and try things we've worked on during the week."

Mark Jardine
Fan writer

Where will you finish in the league and why?

The only guarantee in life is there will come a time when I can no longer casually assume the Buddies will finish in the top half, and so I'm going to continue riding that train until the lights come on at the end of the line.

Sixth. We've lost some key starters, but Stephen Robinson has long since earned blind faith in his ability to freshen our squad.

Who is the best signing or has he not signed yet and who should it be?

The unknown quantities of Richard King and Jalmaro Calvin, signed from Jamaican champions Cavalier, offer the most potentially exciting answers to this question.

However, based on the evidence we have already, it will likely be one of our loanees-turned-permanent. Convincing Roland Idowu and last season's player of the year Killian Phillips to commit for the long term in Paisley represents excellent business.

I'll opt for Idowu in order to be different and appear like I'm in the know.

What do you want from your manager this season?

I want him to stay in Paisley, forever. I want him to continue telling the media that three players are injured, then starting them all on Saturday anyway. I want more of the same from our card-carrying marginal-gains man.

Who will be the breakout star in your squad?

Fraser Taylor. Local boy and Saints fan, late developer who starred on loan for Arbroath last season as they won League One.

Nominally a 10, he has played throughout the League Cup group stage in a deep midfield role, replacing Caolan Boyd-Munce. Last year, in a brief cameo, he set up our famous equaliser against Brann in Norway with an inch-perfect cross.

I'd argue he's a better and stronger player now, and he has more options to create for.

What is your one major concern?

We've had (and are still having) a busy summer of squad turnover, losing several popular figures from the past three seasons of relative success.

Therein lies a risk that new players won't settle, or the squad will lose something of its closeness. The league also feels stronger at the top end, so patience and understanding for a bottom-half finish might also be needed.

Mark Jardine can be found at Misery Hunters, external