I’d move heaven & Perth for win
Robinson: One victory can change our season
It was the same old sorry story for under-pressure St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson as Hibs dished out the Buddies’ eighth loss in nine games.
But the Northern Irishman reckons a precious win against St Johnstone next week could still put his team on course for a happy ending.
Robinson was hoping to start a new chapter against a Hibs team still reeling from their double derby defeat to Hearts and the sacking of Shaun Maloney.
But it was Easter Road caretaker boss David Gray who signed off with the points as Ewan Henderson’s winner gave the Leith outfit just a second league win of 2022.
Now it’s Saints feeling the pressure heading into next week’s crucial trip to McDiarmid Park.
Defeat in Perth would leave St Mirren two points above Callum Davidson’s men and the play-off spot with three games remaining.
Robinson admits he’s feeling pressure but stressed it’s still far too soon to be writing off his team just yet.
He said: “One win changes the whole narrative. We haven’t got it yet, we wanted it a lot sooner. If Hibs say they deserve all three points today I’d disagree fully.
“There’s not many on a good run of form in the bottom six so I think it’s tense for everybody. I take that pressure away from the players and try to let them express themselves and play a bit of football but we’re under pressure to win football matches, no-one more so than me.
“Do we have the bottle to survive? Yeah, I have no doubts about that.”
It was a perfect day for football in Paisley yet both teams looked like they’d prefer to be anywhere else. That’s understandable given the miserable runs they’ve been on but try telling that to the 4992 souls who had forgone a day in a beer garden in the hope of dr ink i ng in some decent entertainment.
The punters who travelled through from Leith had forked out £22 a head but by the time referee Euan Anderson blew for the break they’d have been considering asking for a rebate. Former Buddie Paul McGinn denied his old side the opener on the half-hour as he booted off the line as Curtis Main rushed in looking to convert.
But the Hibs support finally got some value for money when Henderson fired them ahead with 16 minutes left.
Paul McGinn’s ball down the line found Harry Clarke and while Saints hesitated in a failed bid to claim for offside,Henderson darted behind the back line before firing past Alnwick at his near post. St Mirren’s Scott Tanser rattled the bar from Jay Henderson’s cross in their best chance of the game but it ended with more bad news for Robinson with Richard Tait and Eamonn Brophy sent to hospi ta l with injuries. He said: “They’re both awa y for x-rays.
“We ’ r e just not getting the rub of the green. They had one chance and it’s one goal while we hit the bar. We’ve only got 14 or 15 fit players but I’m confident we’ll still handle it.”