Jim Goodwin insists he wants everyone to focus on the Buddies on the pitch as star player Jamie McGrath’s future at the club continues to hang in the balance.
The St Mirren manager left the Ireland international out of his matchday squad altogether for Tuesday night’s clash with Dundee United after transfer speculation knocked him off his stride mentally.
Goodwin revealed he will tomorrow make a decision on whether to recall the 25-year-old midfielder for Saturday’s trip to Ayrshire to take on Ayr United in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.
But he is adamant it’s time to prioritise the players who performed so well against Dundee United, particularly playmaker Greg Kiltie who stepped up in McGrath’s absence, as they look to make it back-to-back wins at Somerset Park.
Goodwin told Renfrewshire Live Sport: “I’ve not made my mind up yet whether Jamie will be involved at the weekend or not.
“He trained with us this morning and we’ll have a look at things on Friday and decide then.
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“We’ve probably spent too long talking about Jamie and not enough time talking about some of the other players that we have here.
“I’m very lucky to have the quality of squad I do have and I think the likes of Greg Kiltie, who has waited patiently for his opportunity to come in, in the absence of Jamie was absolutely outstanding on Tuesday night.
“If that is the type of performance we can expect from Kiltie on a consistent basis then we don’t need to worry too much about anything else that happens really.
“Jay Henderson was another one who came in, a young academy graduate, and was outstanding. He probably scored the goal of the night across the Premiership.
“Eamonn Brophy was back among the goals as well. So we’re in a very fortunate position and we proved on Tuesday night we are not a one-man team.
“Life goes on, it’s as simple as that.”
Goodwin revealed that Tuesday night’s long overdue victory, the club’s first in 12 attempts, has greatly improved the mood at Ralston in the build-up to tomorrow’s Scottish Cup test.
And he’s determined to ensure the confidence they picked up at Tannadice doesn’t wash away with a disappointing result on the Ayrshire coast against Championship opposition.
Goodwin said: “The win definitely gave the camp a real lift.
“We’ve not been down in the dumps, but it does play on your mind and affect confidence when you’re on that kind of run.
“I think you saw that in the latter stages of the game on Tuesday night.
“The last 15 minutes of the game nerves crept in and we’ve spoken about that since when we were doing our video analysis.
“We need to try and manage the game a little bit better, but the first half was excellent.
“It was probably the best we’ve played all season and if we can play like that consistently we give ourselves a very good chance of climbing the table.”
