Stephen Robinson is firmly anticipating a “blood and thunder” encounter in tomorrow’s battle of the Saints.
But all the under-fire St Mirren boss cares about is making sure the Paisley side come out in a strong position heading into their final three games of the current Premiership campaign.
Robinson is expecting a tough arm wrestle with St Johnstone, the side currently sitting five points below them in the table who are scrapping for their Premiership survival.
The Buddies boss hopes his side can overturn their recent dismal run of form and use their team spirit as a key weapon to land a crucial blow on Callum Davidson's men on their home turf.
Robinson told Renfrewshire Live Sport: “I’m expecting it to be a horrible game. I’m expecting it to be blood and thunder and set plays.
“St Johnstone are very good at set plays and are very well organised, under a very good manager.
“They’ve struggled a little bit this season, but I have the utmost respect for St Johnstone and Callum’s achievements, especially last season.
“We have to be up for a battle to get maximum points.
“A win would certainly make it much harder to be caught. It’s a big game for us, no doubt, and a win would give us some breathing space.
“It would make it difficult for St Johnstone and Dundee to catch us. But we’ll worry about that once we’ve got the points.
“These are a group of boys who have stuck together all season.
“They struggled before Christmas and then went on a bit of a better run early this year. I haven’t been able to maintain that and neither have the players.
“But there’s a togetherness around the football club which is great to see and bodes very well going forward.”
Robinson believes his players’ determination to play through the pain barrier for the good of the cause highlights the team ethic still in force in Paisley.
While Richard Tait and Eamonn Brophy are both major doubts for tomorrow’s clash, Robinson revealed they are both working as hard as they can to be involved in the crunch match.
Robinson said: “Tait and Brophy both trained for the first time today (Friday) tentatively, but whether they start or not will depend on the next 24 hours.
“It’s great news that they’re not broken. We feared they both had broken feet, but it’s just heavy bone bruising.
“They’re major doubts but they’re doing all they can to be involved, which says a lot about them.
“Charles Dunne won’t be available, Jordan Jones is still struggling a little bit with his shoulder as well, so we’ve got quite a few doubts.
“It’s all credit to the boys though because there’s a lot of them playing with injuries at the moment.
“Curtis Main requires surgery at the end of the season, but he’s playing on.
“That’s to be admired. It shows the character we have in the squad.
“A lot of them are playing through the pain barrier for me and the football club which is impressive.
“I’m confident we’ll get through this sticky spell and then look forward to building for next season.”
