St Mirren

Billy Hogg
Fan writer

The task couldn't have been simpler. Pick up three points against the league's worst team - who were enduring the longest winless run in Scottish top-flight history - and edge closer to securing a ninth straight season in the Premiership.

As we all know, though, things aren't always simple when it comes to St Mirren.

For months now, there's been a lingering feeling that Livingston were "due a win." Since their previous league victory against Falkirk on 9 August, they had drawn 12 games, thrown away 25 points from winning positions and come close to beating both Rangers and Hearts.

On Saturday in Paisley, that 31-match run finally came to a deserved end at the expense of Craig McLeish's men. In the first half the hosts were in control and carved out several decent opportunities, but were unable to put the ball in Jerome Prior's net.

After half-time, though, the Buddies were undone twice on the counter, with Alex Gogic's own goal and Scott Pittman's strike giving the visitors all three points and delaying their return to the Championship for another week at least.

For the Buddies, Kilmarnock's defeat at Pittodrie was the only bright spot on a bleak day as we remain two points clear of 11th spot.

Of course this will always go down as the season where major silverware came to Paisley for only the fifth time and the club got so, so close to another final.

But I'd quite happily pack in the season now, take the 10th-place finish and start afresh in July. Sadly the league doesn't offer deals like that and this Saturday brings a trip east to Dundee as Saints look for a first league away win outside Grangemouth in almost a year.

Gogic misses out, his 12th booking of the season earning him a two-match ban. Emergency goalie Ross Sinclair looks set to continue between the sticks as Shamal George is still to return from the injury that kept him out of the Scottish Cup semi-final loss.

To get over the line McLeish's side will need to dig deep, with this trip to Dens Park immediately followed by the ultimate six-pointer at home to Kilmarnock on 9 May.

During McLeish's brief reign there have been positives, including a gritty road win against Falkirk and impressive home victory against Aberdeen just three weeks ago.

If the Buddies are able to pull out performances like that in the next four games, another season at Scottish football's top table awaits.

But if last Saturday's second-half performance is repeated? Well, we'd be staring down the barrel of another 180 minutes - or more - of football against whoever emerges from the Championship dogfight.

For the sake of my blood pressure, let's hope it doesn't come to that.

Billy Hogg can be found at Misery Hunters, external

ARE HEARTS DESTINED TO WIN THE TITLE? 🏆

It was a seismic weekend in the hunt for the Scottish Premiership crown. Are you rejoicing, are you quietly optimistic, or are you chucking it?

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Watch the Sportscene team discuss St Mirren's lack of goal threat in their 2-0 defeat at home by Livingston.

"When you're not putting the ball in the back of the net, you run the risk of potentially getting hit with a sucker punch," former Scotland midfielder Michael Stewart said.

"Livingston were dangerous and capable. When you don't convert opportunities, you put yourself under pressure.

"The goals they concede, they are caught with quick breakaways. It's something Craig McLeish needs to look at."

Watch all the highlights as Livingston picked up their second victory of the season and handed St Mirren's survival hopes a blow with a 2-0 win in Paisley. Available to UK users only.

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St Mirren interim manager Craig McLeish insists his side will "fight till the very end" after their survival hopes were dented by a 2-0 home defeat to bottom side Livingston on Saturday.

The League Cup winners are 10th in the Premiership table, just two points above Kilmarnock in the relegation play-off spot with four games left to play.

But McLeish, who took interim charge following Stephen Robinson's move to Aberdeen, insists the Buddies are up for the fight.

"They are and they will be," he said.

"And one thing about any group that I lead is that they will fight until it's absolutely over and hopefully it's a positive outcome for us at the end of the season.

"But the one thing that we will do as a staff, as a group of players, is we will fight till the very end.

"We know we're in a fight – it wasn't like going into the game we thought we were in a comfortable position.

"We were in a fight before we went into the game, we were in a fight now.

"We've just lost one of our five games. We've got four to go to save our season."

St Mirren fans, we asked for your views after Saturday's defeat to Livingston.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Alan: Plenty of the ball in the first half but as usual no cutting edge, that has been a problem for many seasons. The second half was just awful. We really need to wake up and realize we are in serious trouble before it's too late.

Gus: The collapse in extra time at Hampden was unacceptable but I was more interested in the league. After seeing how the team played against Livi, there should be no chance of Craig McLeish being considered for the managers job.

Ali: Sigh.

Michael: Absolutely rotten from the temporary manager down. Time for a clear out. We may have won a cup be we have lost our heart. Only bonus is that those around us are just as bad. Clear out, clean up and come back with fresh blood.

Panther: An embarrassing display, especially in the second half. The entire team looked out of sorts, Mark O'Hara looked lost, Miguel Freckleton was too slow with the ball and put on a nervous display and even the usually rock-solid Alex Gogic had a bad one and a bewildering own goal. If we play anywhere near as bad as we did in this match in our remaining games we will be fortunate to get a play-off place.

Image source, SNS

St Mirren interim manager Craig McLeish: "That was a sore one. We know we're in a fight, we know the situation we're in. It's fine margins in all of these games. You can't take anything for granted.

"Anyone can beat anyone in these games. We did probably enough in the first half to take the lead, the goalkeepers made a couple of good saves. We can't take that for granted and think that will continue to happen.

"We have to convert some of our chances. We spoke all week about Livingston being dangerous on the counter attack, and they've hit us twice.

"That was my frustration today, we were loose in possession at times. We weren't as fluid and confident on the ball as we have been.

"They wanted a slow game, a turgid game. We spoke all week about speeding it up, playing with intensity, and we didn't do that enough. A real tough one today.

"We've got a choice now. We either stick together and keep fighting, or it goes the other way. We've lost a game, we've got four to save our season."

Livingston picked up just their second Scottish Premiership win of the season - and first since August - as they beat St Mirren to keep their extremely slim survival hopes alive.

Read the match report here.

Let us know your thoughts.

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St Mirren will have either 17-year-old Grant Tamosevicius, who has signed a contract extension after making his debut in Sunday's Scottish Cup semi-final defeat by Celtic, or Ross Sinclair, who has arrived on a seven-day emergency loan from St Johnstone, in goal against Livingston.

It follows Sunday's injury to Ryan Mullen, while Shamal George already sidelined.

Malik Dijksteel, Keanu Baccus and Marcus Fraser are out for the season, but forward Dan Nlundulu could be back.

Livingston forwards Connor McLennan and Jeremy Bokila are still out, but midfielder Aidan Denholm is closer to featuring after recovering a long-term hamstring injury.

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Goalkeeper Grant Tamosevicius has been handed a contract extension by St Mirren - just five days after conceding five goals on his debut.

The 17-year-old was thrust into action after Ryan Mullen injured himself conceding the opening goal in Sunday's 6-2 Scottish Cup semi-final defeat by Celtic.

Tamosevicius had been on the bench following an injury to first-choice Shamal George and with Peter Urminsky on loan to Glentoran.

With Mullen being ruled out with a torn muscle that requires surgery, St Mirren have since signed St Johnstone goalkeeper Ross Sinclair on a seven-day emergency loan.

But Tamosevicius, who had a year left of his existing deal, did enough at Hampden to help secure a contract extension that keeps him at the Scottish Premiership club until summer 2029.

Interim manager Craig McLeish told St Mirren's website: "It was always something that was in the works, but following his debut on Sunday, we felt it was right to give Grant that reward.

"I brought Grant into the club when he was 13 and it's nice to be able to share this with him. He is a fantastic young goalkeeper and we've got really high hopes for him.

"Jamie Langfield has worked closely with Grant over the years and deserves a lot of credit in guiding him, as does academy director Allan McManus. He more than deserves this and we're delighted that it's completed."

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St Mirren interim manager Craig McLeish has been speaking to the media before his side host Livingston on Saturday.

Here are the key points from his press conference:

• On social media abuse directed at goalkeeper Ryan Mullen after the Scottish Cup semi-final defeat, McLeish says: "It's not real life, it's faceless accounts. Some of it may come from fans of our own club and fans of other clubs, but those same people aren't making those comments if they see you face to face."

• McLeish also emphasised Mullen is being supported by the club and his family following his injury and the subsequent abuse after the cup exit: "Ryan's family, the support that he's had from his team-mates, from the club, the people who see him daily in daily life, he knows he's got that support from us. That's the bit that matters."

• On Mullen's injury, McLeish says: "Even within the game we knew it was a bad one… I would have taken that decision out his hands anyway. He said he couldn't kick, that he was feeling something. He's now had the unfortunate news that he's going to need surgery. We just have to rally round him and support him."

• St Johnstone's Ross Sinclair has been signed on a seven-day emergency loan, with McLeish saying: "We're really comfortable with the goalkeeping situation now. Bringing Ross in is a massive help that he has Premiership experience. We know he's a strong goalkeeper. Whatever decision we go with over the next couple of games, we're comfortable with either Grant [Tamosevicius] or Ross in goals for us."

• Shamal George "should" be back before the end of the season and is no longer wearing his protective boot.

• McLeish says the players need to have a "short memory" about their semi-final thumping by Celtic as they have a massive game in their relegation fight this weekend. He adds: "We've got a massive run of games going into the split. They had a day off and then we came back in and reset, and reset really well throughout the week."

• Despite succumbing to Celtic in extra time, McLeish says there are still positives for his side to build upon as they fight for their top-flight status: "There are so many positives over not just the last two games, but the five games that I've taken in charge of. I'm so happy with so many parts of it."

• On their match with Livingston, and the chance to potentially move five points clear of the relegation play-off spot, McLeish says: "It's in our own hands. If we take care of our games then we can pull ourselves out of this situation."

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• St Mirren have lost just one of their past 16 Scottish Premiership meetings with Livingston (W7 D8), going down 1-0 away from home in February 2024.

• Livingston won their first-ever Premiership visit to St Mirren 2-0 in August 2018, but have since failed to win 10 such trips in the competition (D4 L6), losing their past four in a row and failing to score in their latest three.

• Depending on Kilmarnock's result at Aberdeen, Livingston could be relegated this weekend should they fail to beat St Mirren. Since the Premiership rebranded in 2013, they would be only the second newly-promoted side to be relegated from the division, after Dundee in 2021-22.

• St Mirren haven't won their first game after the Premiership split in any of their past five seasons (D1 L4), although their last win on matchday 34 in the competition came against Livingston in 2018-19 (3-1).

• Livingston have dropped 25 points from winning positions in the Premiership this season; since the competition's rebrand in 2013, the record in a single campaign is 28 by Hamilton in 2017-18 and Dundee in 2024-25.

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St Mirren have signed St Johnstone goalkeeper Ross Sinclair on a seven-day emergency loan.

First-choice Shamal George is already out injured, while back-up Ryan Mullen - who gifted the opening goal - was forced off in the first half of Sunday's Scottish Cup semi-final defeat by Celtic and will now miss at least three months with a torn thigh muscle that requires surgery.

Sinclair, 24, has not featured for Championship winners St Johnstone this season, but made 10 appearances in the Premiership last term.

He is likely to make his debut against St Mirren on Saturday.

We asked for your views on which St Mirren player has failed to live up to expectations this season.

Here's what some of you said:

Stuart: Despite initial promise, Killian Phillips now just seems to be racing round the park, lunging into tackles and getting either booked or injured. Then too exhausted to contribute anything useful.

Stewart: I looked forward to Phillips having done better, including scoring a few more goals. Maybe he will bag a few more next term.

Ted: My biggest disappointment is Conor McMenamin. He hasn't been able to kick on from last season. Okay, he had a few injuries but overall has struggled.

St Mirren hope to arrange an emergency loan for St Johnstone goalkeeper Ross Sinclair following injuries to Shamal George and Ryan Mullen. (Scottish Sun), external

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St Mirren goalkeeper Ryan Mullen has vowed to come back stronger after his "devastating" Scottish Cup semi-final ended after 14 minutes with a mistake and a torn quad muscle.

Deputising for the injured Shamal George, Mullen's delay in clearing the ball gifted Celtic's Daizen Maeda a first-minute goal before he was forced off after 14 minutes.

St Mirren managed to battle back from 2-0 down to force extra-time with 17-year-old Grant Tamosevicius in goal before losing 6-2 in extra-time.

Mullen posted on social media platform X that he was left devastasted on what was the biggest game of his career.

"It was even harder to pluck up the courage to walk off the pitch, but ultimately the team must come first," he wrote.

"The mistake and the pain were both something I could handle, but putting the team at risk didn't sit right with me."

Mullen, 24, thanked his family, friends, and team-mates for their support and praised Tamosevicius's display.

"Surgery is next, and then a long road back," the goalkeeper added.

"I've been at rock bottom and worked my way up from there - this isn't that situation.

"It's a privilege and an honour to be where I'm at right now, and I know exactly what it takes to get back to where I see myself going."

Last week we asked for your St Mirren player of the year - and Alex Gogic was the standout.

Now we want to know the Buddies player who has been the biggest disappointment this season.

It could be a new signing who has underwhelmed or an existing squad member who has failed to kick on.

Share your thoughts here.

Mark Jardine
Fan writer

St Mirren's unlikely run to the penultimate stage of a second cup competition in a season, all while toiling on league duty, kept dreams alive of something spectacular until almost the very end.

Celtic's four-goal blitz in six extra time minutes delivered a scoreline that will tell one tale, and justifiably so, but the conclusion from a Saints perspective has yet to be written.

In a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style, there are many paths this performance and result may lead down. Glasses can be half full, or half empty, or angrily tossed across a dressing room during a play-off.

Mika Mandron, nearly, had his finest hour in a Saints jersey. His first goal was a sublimely-placed header, earned by the kind of movement that defines his reign as the club's number nine.

Denied his guaranteed cup final start by illness, knocked down by a calamitous first half of defensive error and injury, Mandron grabbed the occasion by the collar in the second half and had his say.

Burying his equalising volley beyond Viljami Sinisalo and darting for the bedlam of Hampden's South Stand, the Frenchman with Scottish ties looked very much at home in the national stadium.

In an optimistic world, the Saints leading man takes this evidence of standing up when it counts and runs riot for the five remaining league fixtures that will decide his club's immediate future.

Grant Tamosevicius, born the week after Barack Obama accepted the Democratic Party's nomination for President, started this month as an academy keeper fourth in the queue for time between the Buddies' sticks.

Within 15 minutes of Sunday's semi-final, he was thrust into senior action for the first time in front of a national audience and packed crowd. Celtic's third goal aside, where the youngster was only as caught out by the cross as the two experienced centre-halves in front of him, Tamosevicius held his own.

With Shamal George visibly injured in the stands, Ryan Mullen now awaiting results and Peter Urminsky blocked by both loan arrangement and his own injury nightmare, the debutant's unexpected starring role may yet continue and with the stakes only increasing.

For Craig McLeish, the challenge is now single-minded and straightforward: Keep St Mirren in the top division.

The interim has a choice of tone to make and all indications are he has forged ahead with the positives. A side that no one backed, that injury decimated and that calamity befell, pushed Scotland's richest side to the brink of a second Hampden defeat in four months.

It is hard to legislate for the kind of unfortunate error and injury that plunged the Saints into chaos early on Sunday, or for the extra-time collapse of a side on their last legs and altered to chase an equaliser at all costs.

What can be taken from his side's showing are the resilience, grit, confidence and refusal to die that kept cup double dreams alive until the very last.

This is a St Mirren team that believe in their ability, in their mental fortitude and in the direction they have been asked to take.

This is a side built to take chances, pass with courage and change games on their own terms. Frankly, after four years of doing their best work in the table-topping games where possession was an alien concept, this is a team now drilled to want the ball and be masters of their own fate.

This season's story already had the momentous high of second act silverware, with the scene now set for third act redemption too.

Mark Jardine can be found at Misery Hunters, external

Image source, SNS

Alex Gogic hailed teenage goalkeeper Grant Tamosevicius for a "special" St Mirren debut in Sunday's Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Celtic.

The 17-year-old was a first-half replacement for Ryan Mullen, who was standing in for Shamal George before picking up an injury of his own in the 6-2 loss.

Gogic criticised the "disgraceful" and "disgusting" abuse Mullen, who made an error for Daizen Maeda's opener, received from his own fans.

And the 32-year-old defender praised young Tamosevicius for the way he dealt with being thrown into the intense Hampden occasion.

St Mirren fought back from two down to take the contest beyond the 90 minutes, but the Paisley side could not prevent a four-goal blitz from Celtic early in extra time.

"For Grant it was a special moment," Gogic said. "I just told him when he comes in, just enjoy every second, because you never know if you will ever come back.

"I just told him, if you have nerves, just relax, enjoy every second, it doesn't matter if you make a mistake, just enjoy every second of it, because you never know.

"I'm 32 and you don't come here often, so I said enjoy it, take it in and enjoy every moment.

"It's special, the boys were over at him and especially the fans, and he did brilliant, some good saves."

Ray Bradshaw will be joined by fans up and down the country on Monday for This Is Fans Only to discuss the weekend's biggest points.

Supporters will come on live and viewers will get the chance to join in on the debate, as well.

The show will be broadcast live on the BBC Sport Scottish Football YouTube channel at 18:00 BST.

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