Saints come first... talk of contracts can wait until we finish season
McCarthy says under-pressure games come before new deals
Conor McCarthy insists decisions about his future will not affect him when he takes to the McDiarmid Park pitch this afternoon.
That’s because he believes there’s far too much at stake today to have his focus anywhere else but Perth.
The Buddies know a rare win at their rival Saints’ ground would put serious daylight between themselves and Callum Davidson’s men, who currently occupy the relegation play-off spot.
A victory would put them eight points ahead of St Johnstone with just three games left of the season, with a draw maintaining the current five point gap.
McCarthy is out of contract this summer, having been linked with moves away from Paisley in the last two transfer windows.
The 24-year-old Irishman in adamant his thoughts are all on ensuring St Mirren are able to keep looking up the way as they aim to replicate last season’s seventh place finish, instead of down the Premiership table come Saturday night.
McCarthy told Express Sport: “Our own personal future doesn’t come into it at all.
“The manager has been really good with all of us behind the scenes.
“He’s told us that contract situations go out the window at the moment.
“We just need to focus on the games we have left.
“Everyone is playing for their livelihood and we’re looking forward to it.
“We’re just focusing on three points. “The message all week has been to get that breathing space we need.
“We can sort all that off the field stuff out after the season’s finished.
“I can’t speak for every player, but for me personally I’ll give 110 per cent no matter what.”
While some footballers might buckle under the weight of expectation heading into season-defining clashes, McCarthy revealed he relishes the challenge.
He believes it’s a privilege to play professional football at any level, a feat he never takes for granted heading into what he admits is a massive game for the Paisley club.
McCarthy said: “We can’t enjoy this run in as much as last year, but the pressure is a privilege.
“There’s a lot of people out there who would love to but won’t ever play professional football.
“We enjoy the pressure and we’re certainly looking forward to it.
“There’s no doubt about it - it’s a really big game.
“From our point of view we’re still looking up the way instead of down. “We have a lot of points still to play for. “There’s a lot of pressure on the teams below us at the moment instead of us, so we’re really looking forward to it.
“If we can get three points against St
Johnstone we’ll be able to focus on our target of finishing seventh.
“We’re expecting a tough game. “They’re hard to beat and very well organised.
“If we were to go eight points clear with three games to go, we’d certainly give ourselves the breathing space everyone in the dressing room is craving right now.
“The pressure is all on the teams behind us.
“They have to come out and beat us, so we’re prepared for that.”
While the Buddies current run of form under boss Stephen Robinson is far from promising, McCarthy says his Buddies are still in good spirits ahead of their trip up to Perth.
He is hoping to finally end their current five-game winless streak so the club can focus firmly on finishing the season strongly.
McCarthy added: “We’re certainly not naive. We know that a loss would be very detrimental to our season.
“We’ll go there with positive spirits though. We haven’t been getting the rub of the green lately.
“Going back to last week against Hibs we had numerous chances, hit the bar.
“But it takes that one win to put a halt to that losing run.
“Then we can kick on and look forward to the rest of the campaign.”
We can’t enjoy this run in as much as last year but the pressure is a privilege