ROBINSON RELIEVED AS PAISLEY MEN NOW LOOK SAFE

STEPHEN ROBINSON last night breathed a sigh of relief and looked ahead to next season after St Mirren all but secured Premiership safety.

A Greg Kiltie goal was enough to earn the Paisley side three points against relegation rivals St Johnstone, whose prospects of survival are now almost certain to hinge on a play-off.

Eight points clear of the Perth side with three games to play, Robinson knows his team is almost there — and he admitted he is looking forward to placing his own stamp on a team he inherited from Jim Goodwin in February.

He said: ‘It’s a relief of course. You want to come in and hit the ground running and win loads of games but we haven’t done that. The majority of the season has been a struggle, if the truth be told, but today the boys have shown what they can do on a consistent basis.

‘Hopefully, we can now look forward to next season and build on that in the remaining three games because we have got good character with this squad.’

Robinson (left) reserved specific praise for strikers Alex Greive and Curtis Main, who spearheaded the visitors’ performance from kick-off, when the former forced a save from Zander Clark inside 30 seconds.

Main’s combative contribution as a targetman disrupted St Johnstone all afternoon and had Robinson reminiscing of the days when he managed the 29-year-old at Motherwell. ‘The two centre-forwards set the tone. They were a handful all day. Curtis was excellent.

‘That’s the Curtis Main I know from Motherwell.

‘He’s had a little bit of stick before I came, but I know what I can get out of him and today he showed that.

‘When you have two boys chasing you down like that, it makes it hard for them and easier for our defenders.’ As forceful as Main was up front, the game’s most effective performer was midfielder Alex Gogic.

‘You have to make big calls in the team and I thought we got the right balance,’ added Robinson.

‘Alex Gogic and Connor Ronan sitting in there with Greg Kiltie in front of them were very good.

‘They were creative but Gogic broke everything up.’