St Mirren

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St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson is hoping for a quieter summer of recruitment as his side gear up for a first European campaign in 37 years.

The Northern Irishman brought in seven players last summer but says securing safety early in the season has allowed him to get business done and could lead to less movement in the transfer window.

Robinson has already added Brentford goalkeeper Ellery Balcombe on a season-long loan and signed former St Johnstone defender Shaun Rooney from Fleetwood.

"Being relatively successful means we were able to give people early contracts, like Alex Gogic," Robinson said.

"It just gives a level of stability at the football club that may not have been here.

"The hard bit is bringing players here that are better than what we have. We will work very hard to make sure we do that.

"There will perhaps be not as much [movement] this year because we have got a lot of people in the building."

Robinson revealed which areas he still hopes to strengthen, adding: "I think we need another midfielder. We perhaps need another forward player with a little bit more pace just to give us something different.

"They're probably the only areas we're really looking to strengthen. Other than that, we'll sit back and see."

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St Mirren have signed Brentford goalkeeper Ellery Balcombe on loan for next season.

The 24-year-old becomes the Paisley side's second signing of the summer, having already added former St Johnstone defender Shaun Rooney on a pre-contract.

Balcombe came through the Brentford academy and made his first-team debut last August, saving two penalties in an EFL Cup shootout win over Newport County.

With Zach Hemming returning to parent club Middlesbrough, Stephen Robinson was searching for a new goalkeeper and says he's been an admirer of the Englishman, who has had previous loan spells at clubs including Bristol Rovers and Doncaster.

"I’ve watched Ellery for a while," manager Robinson said.

"His distribution is very good, he’s commanding in his box and I believe he’s someone that will enhance our already good record of goalkeepers.

"We were keen to keep Zach but we spoke to Middlesborough and he's their player so we have to respect that. He'll go back for pre-season and fight for a number two jersey there, but we already knew that would come."

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Stephen Robinson says he has "no complaints" regarding the departures of St Mirren players who refused new contracts at the club.

The Paisley side announced on Wednesday that Ryan Strain, Charles Dunne, Alex Greive and Keanu Baccus - who has already signed for Mansfield Town - will not return for their European campaign next term.

"It's just football, unfortunately," manager Robinson told club media.

"We made offers to players that weren't quite at the level they can get elsewhere and we accept that.

"I've no complaints because every player that's leaving the football club gave me everything.

"Keanu Baccus has been a terrific signing. Nobody knew him, he became an Australia international and played in the World Cup against Lionel Messi. We're very proud of him and he goes with our best wishes.

"Ryan Strain, the same. He was unheard of. We managed to bring him in and [he became] another Australia international."

Robinson added: "Charles Dunne has been terrific, he's been with me for a long period of time. Charles is going on to pastures new.

"We wish these three boys nothing but luck, they know I'm always at the end of the phone to help them."

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Keanu Baccus, Charles Dunne, Alex Greive and Ryan Strain will all leave St Mirren this summer when their contracts expire, the club have announced.

Australia midfielder Baccus has already signed for English side Mansfield Town on a two-year deal.

Fellow Socceroos international Strain scored five goals in 64 appearances for the club, while Dunne played 91 games.

Striker Greive scored nine goals in 76 appearances and spent the second half of this season on loan at Dundee United as they earned promotion back to the top flight.

Meanwhile, loanees Jaden Brown, Zach Hemming and Hyeok-kyu Kwon all return to their parent clubs.

The Buddies have offered 35-year-old Ryan Flynn a player-coach role, and have also proposed new deals to Luke Kenny and Gallagher Lennon.

In the Saturday sun, the Saints were in no mood to show up and simply participate in the trophy day festivities. Any notion of that was eradicated by the right boot of Mark O’Hara after a mere seven minutes.

The St Mirren captain has made something of a habit in scoring against Glaswegian opposition, and he doubled down on that tendency before the end of the first half.

Celtic eventually clawed this all back and ensured Santa walked out on to Celtic Park with three points as well as the league trophy. I don’t think that’ll live long in the memory of many Buddies - it’ll be beach balls, unexpected leads and fond farewells that come to mind.

Charles Dunne, Ryan Strain and Keanu Baccus all made their final bows in St Mirren colours. The trio have been incredibly popular in their time in Paisley.

Dunne was an integral piece in establishing that mobile back three which has defined this more organised and resolute era in Paisley. We’ll always have that suit in that training ground court case, Chilli D.

Baccus and Strain arrived in the same summer, two vital early signings as Stephen Robinson planned for his first full season in Paisley. The Australian duo, both capped multiple times during their time in black and white, were tangible evidence of the improvement in structure and recruitment that has delivered back-to-back top-half finishes.

Their ambition to move on expected but painful nonetheless. In the case of Baccus, Paisley waited 92 years to have one of its own take the field at a World Cup. Hopefully the wait for the next World Cup Buddie will be far shorter.

Lastly, and as of yet unconfirmed, Saturday had the feeling of a farewell to Ryan Flynn. Arriving at a key period of transition for the Saints, Flynn applied himself over several years in a manner which ensures he’ll be written in to club history.

Mark Jardine can be found at Misery Hunters, external

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Alex Gogic says it's "very special" to be named St Mirren's player of the year after helping the Paisley side to European football.

The 30-year-old, who signed a new three-year deal recently, picked up two prizes at the club's awards dinner, including players' player of the year.

"It's very special," Gogic said. "What the players think of you, that's the biggest judgement.

"For them to give me this trophy, it's one that will stay with me forever. It's one big family, a special group.

"Going into Europe, the gaffer knew what we could achieve and he kept repeating it. Knowing we're coming back to play in European qualifiers is something amazing.

"On a personal note, I always try my best and it's good that the highs and the lows pay off in the end. I love it here. All the fans show me."

Gogic also gave a nod to manager Stephen Robinson, who moved the Cypriot from midfield to defence in an inspired move.

"They can see things that you can't," he adds.

"A special mention to him because without him, I'm probably not getting these awards."

The Sportscene team reflect on St Mirren scaring Celtic despite succumbing to a 3-2 defeat away to the champions.

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On his day Mark O'Hara is capable of being hugely impressive at the heart of the St Mirren midfield. He almost delivered a show-stopping performance at Celtic Park.

We asked for your thoughts after St Mirren fell to a 3-2 defeat at Celtic Park - despite leading twice in the first half.

Here's what some of you said:

Douglas: A good performance from Saints but baffled that the game finished on 89 minutes and 56 seconds. How? 10 subs used and Hart's two minutes salute to the Celtic fans.

Eddie: Three poor defensive mistakes led to the goals, however we played a lot of good football. Celtic are the best team in the country for a reason as soon as we made mistakes their good players know how to punish teams. I want to thank every player who played for us this season. I wish good luck to the ones who move on.

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: "It's another really good performance against Celtic, arguably the best we've played, the longest period we've played well. The second goal's a really poor goal to concede. The third goal's really poor. We just switched off.

"It just shows how far we've come that perhaps we're disappointed not to get a point. They were very, very good as a team. As a collective this season, I'm very proud of them."

Celtic ended their successful Scottish Premiership defence with an enthralling win against feisty St Mirren before being presented with the league trophy in the Glasgow sunshine.

Matt O'Riley cancelled out Mark O'Hara's opener for St Mirren but O'Hara scored again from the penalty spot after Stephen Welsh had fouled Toyosi Olusanya.

Kyogo Furuhashi struck Celtic level before the break and Luis Palma forced in their late winner.

Brendan Rodgers' side end their league season with 93 points and an eight-point advantage at the top.

St Mirren, in fifth, post a points return of 47 in their second successive season finishing in the top half.

Were you at St Mirren's 3-2 defeat by Celtic or following the match from home? Either way, we want your views on the game – have your say here.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers made six changes to his starting line-up and it's unlikely next Saturday's Scottish Cup final line-up against Rangers will resemble this one.

The manager has relied largely on predecessor Ange Postecoglou's team to get Celtic over the line in the league title race and a similar approach at Hampden would not be a surprise.

St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson spoke pre-match about the need to score during periods of ascendancy and Mark O'Hara delivered on that front with two goals.

Defensively, they were put under enormous pressure in the second half and almost held out.

All in all, the entertainment on show was a fitting end to the Scottish Premiership season for both the champions and Europe-bound St Mirren.

Champions Celtic make six changes to the starting line-up for their final Scottish Premiership fixture of the season.

Kyogo Furuhashi, Nicolas Kuhn, Maik Nawrocki, Luis Palma, Anthony Ralston and Stephen Welsh start with Cameron Carter-Vickers, James Forrest, Adam Idah, Alastair Johnston, Daizen Maeda and Liam Scales dropping to the bench.

St Mirren make four changes to their line-up. Elvis Bwomono Caolin Boyd-Munce, Marcus Fraser and Toyosi Olusanya replace James Brown, Jaden Brown, Mickael Mandron and James Scott, who are all on the bench.

Celtic: Hart, Ralston, Welsh, Nawrocki, Taylor, O'Riley, McGregor, Hatate, Kuhn, Furuhashi, Palma.

Substitutes: Johnston, Scales, Idah, Carter-Vickers, Iwata, Bernardo, Bain, Maeda, Forrest.

St Mirren: Hemming, Fraser, Gogic, Taylor, Bwomono, Baccus, O'Hara, Boyd-Munce, Tanser, McMenamin, Olusanya.

Substitutes: Bolton, Flynn, Mandron, Scott, Dunne, Brown, Strain, Jamieson, Urminsky.

Celtic have a full squad for their title party while St Mirren will assess several players who are nursing niggles but hope to have an unchanged pool for their final league game of the season.

The Buddies are still without Greg Kiltie, Jonah Ayunga and Kwon Hyeok-kyu.

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St Mirren's performances against the Old Firm have merited points on the board, says assistant manager Diarmuid O'Carroll.

The Buddies have enjoyed a successful season - qualifying for European football for the first time in 37 years - but have endured a rotten record against Celtic and Rangers.

Having lost seven out of seven meetings with the Glasgow outfits this term, O'Carroll is eyeing an eye-catching result when they travel to the champions on trophy day.

“We are trying to finish on a high,” he said.

“We are due a result from our performances against the Old Firm. We are yet to do it so we would love to do it on Saturday.

“We got five points off Celtic and Rangers last season. Obviously that doesn’t sound that many out of 24 but when you consider the gulf between the size of clubs, five points can be massive. Last year it was about a ninth of our total tally.

“We haven’t managed to do it this year. We have had lots of positive praise from the managers, lots of positive praise from players for how we play and how we set up.

“We will stick with our plan, we are preparing the exact same way and it would be fantastic to be able to go there and win.”