Goalie Samson hails club’s young hopefuls

The future’s bright for St Mirren as a host of youngsters look to make a break into the top team.

That’s the opinion of new goalkeeper Craig Samson, who has been blown away by the amount of prospects at the club since his return to Paisley in the summer.

The 33-year-old, who made his second debut for the club against Stranraer on Saturday, believes the likes of Lewis Morgan and Kyle Magennis are destined for big things in the game, while Conor O’Keefe and Cammy MacPherson look to step up too.

However, Samson believes the continued progress of the club’s youth academy can only be a positive in years to come as they look to continue growing talent.

Samson told Express Sport: “There is no doubt about the quality in this squad — there are some top young boys here.

“Lewis Morgan was at the football club as a very young kid when I was first here. You knew he was going to be good, even then. But I don’t want to just single him out — there’s lots of top talent.

“Kyle Magennis is a top player, while young Cammy Smith is different class, having come in from Aberdeen, and is another that I have known for a long time.

“There are lots of good players at the club and there are also lots of young ones looking to push their way in.

“That is something the manager is very keen to push through. He sees the hard work being done in the youth development side and he sees these boys are ready to step in.

“It is great to see that at the football club.”

But, as an elder statesman of the side, Samson admits the side will need the experience in the ranks to help them get ahead this season.

He added: “When you look at the spine of the team, you need that experience.

“You have myself, Gary MacKenzie and Stephen McGinn, who have all played a lot of football.

“Gary Irvine, at right back, has played a lot of games at the top level in Scotland with a host of different teams.

“If we didn’t have that experience in the side, then it would be difficult for the young ones.”