Ryan Flynn is desperate to help St Mirren clear their final hurdle and race into the top-six promised land.
The experienced midfielder is the Buddies current longest-serving player, having joined the Paisley club back in January, 2018.
The 34-year-old has almost seen it all, having played a key role as the Saints romped to the Championship title in his first season before dramatically staying in the top flight after beating Dundee United in a memorable play-off the following year.
One thing he hasn’t witnessed is Saints finishing in the top half of the table, having not even been born the last time the club marched to a fifth-place finish back in 1985.
With a draw or a win in Saturday’s decisive clash against Kilmarnock enough to seal the deal and banish the demons of Hamilton’s late equaliser in 2021, Flynn is determined to reward the expectant Buddies set to pack out the SMiSA Stadium this weekend with an afternoon to celebrate.
Speaking exclusively to the Paisley Daily Express, Flynn said: “We’ve been in this position before but the conditions are even better this time.
“A top-six finish is in our hands and we’ve got our final game before the split at home, where we’ve been so strong this season.
“We’ve been very consistent this year, especially in Paisley, and this is a massive game for us.
“ It’s the final hurdle and we’re desperate to get the job done.
“For me, it’s a different feeling to previous years. Other times we’ve been in and around sixth spot, but this season we’ve been in the top six and our performances have been so much stronger.
“I feel like we deserve it more this year because we’ve had a better all-round season, but it counts for nothing if we don’t make it count on Saturday.
“The supporters have been amazing with us all season and it means so much to the club and the players for them to sell-out this game.
“We need to repay them and I’m confident we will.
“It’s going to be an amazing atmosphere and we’re determined to not let this opportunity slip through our hands.”
While the Buddies know a slip-up from Livingston or Hibs this weekend could also secure them a top-six finish regardless of the result in Paisley, Flynn is adamant Stephen Robinson will send his side out to win.
He knows to expect a tough afternoon against Killie, who are scrapping for survival in the same way Flynn’s Saints were in his first full season with the club.
Flynn said: “We had a lot of doubters at the start of the season. I remember people sticking the boot in after our first few league games.
“We never panicked and where we are now shows just how far we’ve come as a club.
“No one could say we don’t deserve to be in the top six this season, if we get it over the line.
“It’s a cup final for us and they’ll be well up for it, too. We’ve been in that position where you are scrapping to stay up and you have to give everything.
“It might not be a pretty game, but we’re not thinking about what Livi or Hibs do. We won’t just be going for the point to get it done, we’ll be going for the win.”
Should the Saints make it into the top six, Flynn sees no reason why the Paisley club can’t then target finishing in the top three.
He added: “Finishing in the top six can lead on to other objectives.
“If we finish the season strongly we could potentially go on and finish third.
“We’ve proven we can beat everyone this season. We’ve beaten Celtic, Hibs, Hearts, Aberdeen. We were five minutes away from beating Rangers in Paisley.
“There’s so much self-belief in this squad. But we can’t focus on that just yet, first we need to do the business on Saturday.”
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