Chabbi urges Saints to focus on drop threat

ST MIRREN striker Seifedin Chabbi insists the club must swiftly refocus their minds on the bread and butter of league business following their Scottish Cup exit. The Saints slipped to a disappointing quarter-final defeat to Aberdeen in Paisley on Saturday night, a match in which they managed just one shot on target. It was a feeble effort against a Dons side who looked to be there for the taking, given their own struggles over recent weeks. But Jim Goodwin’s men went out with a whimper, with the club’s survival bid to stay in the Premiership now becoming the overwhelming priority for all concerned at the club. They play host to St Johnstone on Wednesday night, with Chabbi insisting that the players simply have no time to feel sorry for themselves despite blowing a chance to reach Hampden. ‘It wasn’t the result that we wanted,’ admitted the Austrian striker, who came off the bench as a second-half substitute on Saturday to make his Saints debut. ‘It was a really big opportunity for the club. In the end, we lost. In Austria, we say our daily bread is the league season. ‘Now we have a big game again and we have to concentrate on our league season now that we’re out of the cup. We have to accept it and look forward. ‘It was frustrating. It’s not like Aberdeen were a class better than us. When you go 1-0 behind, though, it’s not easy. ‘We’ve had better days but we have to continue. We had enough time to turn it around when we went 1-0 down. We just couldn’t do it in the end.’ Having joined St Mirren from Turkish outfit Gaziantep back in January, Chabbi finally got his first taste of Scottish football at the weekend. Although the result did not go as intended, he feels he can make a positive contribution for the club over the second half of the season. Goals have been the key concern for Goodwin’s side. Having found the net just 23 times in 27 games so far, St Mirren badly need a spark if they are to fight off the threat of relegation. They currently sit third from bottom, four points clear of Hamilton and six points clear of bottom side Hearts ahead of the midweek round of fixtures. ‘I came here and I’ve been training — it’s normal that players need time,’ insisted the 26-year-old, who was capped by Austria at youth level. ‘Now I’m looking forward because I want to play as much as possible. I will give everything in training to show the coach that I can play in the first XI. ‘We hear about the Scottish game in Austria and Turkey. It’s aggressive and it’s physical. It’s also a good game with a lot of speed and I like it. ‘I’m a striker and I always have good statistics for goals. But, in the end, it’s more important for the team to win their three points, or make it to the next round. ‘This game was in our heads over the weekend but we will quickly put our focus on Wednesday’s game. We’ll give everything to get three points.’