Charles Dunne can’t hear the haters anymore after helping St Mirren silence their critics and make history this season.
Many pundits predicted the Saints were destined for a relegation battle after shocking League Cup defeats to Arbroath and Airdrie started their campaign with a whimper.
That negative noise wasn’t lost on Dunne and his Buddies, who have used it as fuel as the Paisley club soared up the Premiership table - taking some memorable scalps along the way.
And after securing a first top-six finish since the Premiership split was introduced more than two decades ago over the weekend, experienced defender Dunne admits it’s extra sweet to now hear their former critics eating their words.
Speaking exclusively to the Paisley Daily Express, Dunne said: “The result against Kilmarnock wasn’t what we set out to do. We didn’t play to our full potential, myself included.
“But at the end of the day we made the top-six happen. It’s been a long season and the club hasn’t ever done that before.
“All the boys are delighted to make history here, 100 per cent. Everyone’s happy, even the manager.
“He wasn’t happy on the side of the pitch during the game, that’s for sure. But he quickly forgot about that because it’s been a tough, long season.
“There’s been a lot of ups and downs but we got there in the end. He thanked us all in the dressing room afterwards for what we’d achieved.
“No one expected us to do this. People were saying we were going to get relegated, but look at us now.
“We’re not getting relegated, nowhere near it. That does make it extra sweet.
“Everyone outside the club thought we were going to struggle in the league, but we haven’t.
“We’ve got a real togetherness - win, lose or draw. We just keep going forward and it’s on to the next objective now.”
Having sewn up their first target of finishing in the top half of the table, the Buddies now have European football in their sights.
Dunne has already seen boss Stephen Robinson upset the odds at Motherwell, having steered them to continental adventures during the pair’s successful spell at Fir Park.
And the 30-year-old believes the gaffer’s non-stop approach to management can see them make a record-breaking season in Paisley even more special yet.
Dunne said: “We’ve got nothing to lose now. No one expected us to get into the top-six, and no one will expect us to now go on and get into Europe.
“Why can’t we prove them wrong again?
“We’ve got belief in the changing room and we’ve got the players that can do it. I’ve seen it happen at Motherwell before.
“We’ve shown over the course of the season that we can go toe-to-toe with anyone in the top-six.
“We’ve got no fear of playing anybody. There’s no reason we can’t pick up more points after the split.
“The manager won’t let us settle with just making the top-six. He’s an intense guy and he won’t be letting anyone’s standards slip like they did against Kilmarnock.”
A record-breaking crowd turned up to see St Mirren make their top-six dream come true against Kilmarnock on Saturday, with average attendances this season at the SMiSA Stadium much higher than in previous years.
While the result wasn’t the way the Buddies intended to start their party, Dunne paid tribute to the club’s supporters for sticking with them throughout the campaign.
Dunne added: “The crowd was unreal. I didn’t see no flipping seats free in the whole stadium.
“It was unbelievable from the fans. We’ve got to big them up. They’ve been with us through thick and thin.
“It makes it even sweeter for them and us to have made that bit of history together. We made top six man!
“The board will be proud of us and the fans are proud as well.
“It was so weird going around at the end of the game. We were happy, but a lot of us were still really angry for our performance in the game.
“In the heat of the moment, you want to win every single game you play.
“But we need to remember it was a marathon, not a sprint and we did enough over the 33 games to earn that spot.”
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