St Mirren

Ah Buddies, that's a sore one to take, isn't it?

The European adventure is over for this season despite a valiant performance out in Bergen.

Whether you made the trip out to Norway or took the game in elsewhere, we want to hear from you.

Give us your thoughts on the game here., external

Stephen Robinson tells BBC Scotland he is "very proud" of his players' performance as they had Brann "rocking".

"We score a brilliantly worked corner, a brilliant delivery from young Fraser Taylor and for 10 minutes, we had them rocking.

"Toy [Olusanya] slips over when he has a side-foot into the goal, the game could have been very different. The save from Oisin Smyth's effort too is a tremendous effort, credit to the goalkeeper.

"The goals we concede, that's the big disappointment, every goal is preventable. Poor individual errors cost us tonight.

"I am very proud of them, proud of the fans and we've got the taste of it now, we want more.

"I wrote one word on the board before the game, and that was belief. I said the only mistake you can make tonight is not believing in yourselves because we are good enough to get a result.

"Levels wise, they are a very, very good side with a great manager and in a brilliant city.

"We put a performance in tonight that done me and the players proud, it done us justice.

"Had we had played like that over two legs, if we had that belief in the first leg, it might have been a different story."

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Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland

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Manager Robinson did not shy away from saying his side had to up the ante if they wanted to keep adding stamps to their passports.

He noted their bravery, their pace and their ability on the ball. Three qualities Brann showed within five minutes of kick-off.

Though it was the worst possible start for the Buddies, they did not buckle. Before they fell behind, Shaun Rooney had shanked a glorious close-range effort and while the visitors were under the cosh for much of the first half, they were hardly torn apart.

In the second, they were clearly on top and deservedly levelled. Despite their inexperience at this level, they were confident in their play and everything Robinson called for was implemented in a marked improvement from last week’s show.

St Mirren were brave, but when they maybe sniffed a vulnerability in Brann, the Norwegian hosts instead pounced in clinical fashion.

For the travelling support, their trips abroad - for now - are over. They will not forget the scenes that unfolded at Iacovitti's equaliser any time soon and can bounce back to Paisley with pride.

If the second-half performance is anything to go by, the passports will not be away for long.

Stephen Robinson said before the match he had opted for pace, and Toyosi Olusanya has that to burn in abundance.

He did not stop, forever showed as a long-ball option, and proved a handful for the Brann backline.

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Brann: Dyngeland, Pedersen, Knudsen, Kristiansen, Soltvedt, Kartum, Kornvig, Myhre, Blomberg, Finne, Castro.

Substitutes: Borsheim, Johansen, Opsahl, Larsen, Warming, Mathisen, Heggebo, Helland, Sande, Holten.

St Mirren: Balcombe, Fraser, Gogic, Taylor, Rooney, Adeniran, Boyd-Munce, Idowu, Brown, Ayunga, Olusanya

Substitutes: Urminsky, Kelly, Bwomono, Kenny, Iacovitti, Tanser, Sutherland, F. Taylor, Smuth, Mooney, Scott, Mandron.

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The draw for the quarter-finals of the Premier Sports Cup will take place on Sunday after the Celtic v Hibs tie, which kicks off at 15:00 BST.

The draw will be shown live on Premier Sports following their coverage of the game from Parkhead.

All quarter-final ties due to be played on the weekend of September 21-22.

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St Mirren will face a Brann side with an extra edge in the second leg of their Conference League qualifying tie on Thursday, according to The Times' Michael Grant.

The Norwegians were angered by the nature of Toyosi Olusanya's equaliser in last week's first leg in Paisley, a match in which Brann dominated for long spells.

The goal came about after Brann had put the ball out of play for a supposed injury, and the visitors fumed at St Mirren’s decision not to give them the ball back.

"There's going to be a bit of needle to this match and Brann are going to be fired up after what they regard as the injustice of St Mirren's late equaliser last week," Grant told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"That might not be great for St Mirren because I think Brann are a pretty accomplished side and they look the better side in the first leg for most of it.

"Stephen Robinson's talked about it being a game changer if St Mirren can get through to the group stage but they've got an awful lot of work to do to think about that.

"They've got to get through this one somehow. If they make it to the Conference League play-off, it's really a game-changer for those clubs because you're talking about maybe £2.5m/£3m minimum coming in.

"That's big, big money given the turnovers of those clubs. But I can understand Stephen Robinson talking about it being life-changing, game-changing and so on.

"It feels an awful long way away to me and I do fear for St Mirren this evening."

St Mirren are in talks with Crystal Palace about signing 22-year-old midfielder Killian Phillips, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Aberdeen. (Anthony Joseph on X)

Read the rest of Thursday's gossip.

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Astana of Khazakhstan lie in wait for St Mirren should the Paisley side overcome the odds in Brann on Thursday to reach the Europa Conference League play-offs.

Grigory Babayan's side, who finished domestic runners-up last season, swept aside Romanian Cup winners Corvinul Hunedoara 6-1 on the night and 8-2 on aggregate on Wednesday.

Nigerian striker Geoffrey Chinedu added to his first-leg winner by putting the hosts ahead after only 14 minutes against the side who finished runners-up in last season's Romanian second tier.

However, it was not until the second half when Astana ran riot at Ortalyq Stadion.

Croat midfielder Marin Tomasov grabbed the second after 58 minutes before three goals in seven minutes from Chinedu, Albanian midfielder Nazmi Gripshi and Tomasov again.

Visiting left-back Mihai Velisar pulled one back with 11 minutes remaining, but Khazakhstan winger Elkhan Astanov restored the five-goal advantage.

St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson wants an improved showing from his side in the Conference League qualifier away to Brann after a 1-1 first-leg draw.

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter in Bergen

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St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson has been talking to the media before his side's Conference League third qualifying round second leg against Brann in Norway.

Here are the key points:

• Brann Stadion is "fantastic", "this is what European nights are all about" and he is looking forward to a great atmosphere.

• Considers Brann a very good side who are very well coached.

• St Mirren produced a "terrific" result to draw 1-1 in the first leg in Paisley despite not playing well.

• The Buddies have to be "better on the ball" and "have learned we will need to step up our levels by 100% if we are to get a result".

• Brann's stadium is "similar to be going to Celtic Park or Ibrox", with the crowd "right on top of you".

• To silence the crowd "you have to slow the game down a little bit - like they did at our place".

• The pressure is on Brann given the size of the Norwegian club, their European pedigree and resources.

• Robinson wants to give the "fantastic" travelling support more European nights.

• Only forward Lewis Jamieson has travelled, but defender Alex Gogic and midfielder Coalan Boyd-Muncie are big doubts and captain Mark O’Hara will train but may be a "bit of a risk for us".

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Marcus Fraser believes a "fiery" second leg away to Brann will suit St Mirren's strengths.

The Paisley side, peeved by the Norwegians' perceived time-wasting, scored a late equaliser last week by attacking from a throw-in when Brann had put the ball out of play after one of their players went down with cramp.

"Listen, I think the game is going to be on a knife edge anyway, it's going to be fiery. It should be, because of what's at stake," said defender Fraser.

"We want it to be like that. That's how we want to play. That's how us as a team like to play - kind of on the edge and off the cuff. And if we can do that and match them, then we'll go in there with confidence and hopefully we can get that result.

"Of course we're going to come up against good sides, as are Brann, over the course of the season, but we've got faith in ourselves that we can go out there and have a game-plan, as we always do, and get the job done.

"It's just wee percentages all over the pitch that we need to do better. If we can get those small things right, then that makes a massive difference on the pitch."

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Stephen Robinson is relishing the tactical challenge of European football as St Mirren look to defy the odds against Brann and reach the Conference League play-offs.

Saints thumped Valur of Iceland 4-1 in the previous round and are level at 1-1 with Brann for the second leg in Bergen on Thursday.

"As a coach it’s challenging, it’s great,” said manager Robinson.

"I’ve been lucky enough to experience it before with Motherwell, and Northern Ireland in the European Championship. It tests you tactically, which is the bit of the game that I really enjoy.

"As coaching staff it’s new experiences, different than playing in the SPFL, different views, different ways to play, different ways to play out from the back, all those kinds of things, so we look forward to it.

"Brann are a very good side, the manager’s done a terrific job, they’ve played the same way for the last two years consistently.

"They’re certainly not going to change when we turn up, so we know what we face."