Jakubiak prefers to do without the stress

ALEX JAKUBIAK did not have to physically take part in last season’s Premiership play-off final to know how stressful an experience it was. After joining St Mirren on loan in the January transfer window, the Watford forward took the decision to catch up on his new teammates’ fraught 2-0 penaltyshoot-out victory over Dundee United after an aggregate 1-1 draw over two legs last May. Three stopped spot-kicks from Buddies goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky would ultimately make it party time in Paisley. But, with Premiership survival and jobs on the line, it was a long, tense afternoon that nobody in a black-and-white jersey wants to experience again any time soon. The terms of Jakubiak’s switch from Watford make him eligible to take part in a play-off if Saints remain in their current position of 11th but the 23-year-old hopes to give it a miss. He knows a home win against rock-bottom Hearts this evening would not only lift Jim Goodwin’s side up to ninth but turn up the pressure on a Tynecastle side nobody expected to be at the foot of the Premiership with just nine games remaining. ‘I didn’t watch the play-offs at the time but I’ve since watched the highlights,’ said Jakubiak (right). ‘It ended up being a good day out — but a stressful day out. I don’t think anyone wants to go through that stress again. We will all be trying to avoid the play-offs. ‘If we win, I think it would put more pressure on Hearts going into the rest of the games before the split

— and the games beyond that when we will have to play them again. ‘I’m surprised to see a club the size of Hearts being at the bottom. Before I came up to Scotland, I looked at the table and I was shocked to see them there. They have a good manager and some very good players in the team. ‘They might be thinking week by week that results would pick up but before you know it you are in March and April. It’s the business end of the season and every point right now is vital. ‘We know how important this game is but it’s vital for us to go into it as if it was just another game. We can’t get too bogged down in putting ourselves under pressure because that would just make it harder for us.’ Since the high of beating Motherwell 2-1 at Fir Park, the goals have dried up for St Mirren with a 2-0 home Scottish Cup loss to Aberdeen followed by a 0-0 draw at St Johnstone and Saturday’s 5-0 thrashing by Celtic. But Jakubiak, who has linked up well with Jon Obika since his move up north, wants the Saints fans behind their team to help them find the net once more. ‘There are definitely goals in this team, although they have dried up a bit,’ he admitted. ‘Jon Obika, Junior Morias and myself can all contribute, as can Ilkay Durmus. ‘I wouldn’t say there are goals coming from everywhere but we know we can score. Confidence plays a part and that’s maybe a bit low at the minute.’