Gaffer’s order to squad

St Mirren will be going all out to derail Hibernian’s title party as they bid to avoid the play-offs on Saturday.

That’s the plan of Saints boss Jack Ross, who admits he can’t wait for the weekend’s action which could see his side confirm its spot in the Championship for another season.

A point would be enough to seal the most unlikeliest of escapes – a fact that is not lost on the St Mirren manager.

Ross said: “We go into this game focussing on ourselves.

“I think Hibs will have a strong team, and a team that will not be lacking in motivation.

“Knowing their manager, I think he will be determined to finish the season in the appropriate manner.

“Most teams that do win the league and have their last game at home want to go out and win it that way.

“It is up to us to go there and derail that because there are other things that come into place.

“I’ve actually been involved in the last two of these trophy-raising days, winning it with Hearts and going to Ibrox last season with Alloa. Ironically enough, both of those games ended in draws, so I would take a repeat of that on Saturday.”

St Mirren managed to jump back above Raith Rovers following their defeat of the Kirkcaldy side last weekend.

At one stage this season, Saints were a massive 19 points behind their now sole rivals for the playoff berth following what has been a remarkable turnaround.

Ross pinpointed the 2-0 win over Ayr in March as the defining moment when he realised that the season was well and truly back on track following a horror start.

He added: “There were some dark days in this period and I think we would have bitten your hand off to have been in this situation at one point.

“Expectations change, and circumstances change, and given the run we have been on then it would have been nice to have been completely out the situation at this stage. But that is credit to the clubs around us that have continued to pick up points.

“The biggest game for me was at Somerset Park. We went down there knowing that if we didn’t win the game we would have fallen 10 points behind.

“That was a real pressure game for us. We went there and played well on the day and that was one that if we had lost that day that would have made it very difficult.

“But we are happy we have got to this stage. From within the dressing room there is the understanding that we have still got a good bit to go.

“Whether we manage to do that at the weekend or through the play-offs, we know what we need to achieve this season.”