I don’t think it’s silly to have a celly now
McGinn has changed his tune on survival parties as Buddies battle hard to stay up
PAUL McGINN used to think surviving by the skin of your teeth was no cause for celebration.
But after helping St Mirren in their fight against the drop he’s changed his tune.
So the full-back will be right at the heart of the party if the Buddies stay up on the final day.
Monday’s 2-0 win against Hamilton narrowed the gap on second-bottom Accies to just one point with one game to play.
St Mirren now head to relegated Dundee on Saturday and need to better their rivals’ result at home to St Johnstone in order to avoid a play-off.
It promises to be a nailbiter and McGinn said: “You see teams staying up in the Premiership and crowds running on to the pitch. I usually watch those scenes and think it’s all a bit silly and not something to celebrate.
“Now I think differently. Staying up is massive for any club as people’s jobs and livelihoods are at stake. That’s why if we manage to automatically stay up then we should celebrate it.Staying up would be massive for this club. It’s a club that should be in the Premiership.
“The training ground and the stadium are excellent, the pitch is good, everyone likes coming here. The fans are good.
“It would mean a lot to the club to stay in this league. We certainly don’t want to be a yo-yo team any more.”
Second-half goals from Kyle McAllister and Kyle Magennis were enough to sink 10-man Accies and take the play-off fight to the last day.
Oran Kearney’s men look to have timed their great escape run to perfection after losing just once in their last seven league games – to champions Celtic.
The stage is now set for a lastday nerve shredder and McGinn doesn’t buy into the theory Dundee and St Johnstone have nothing to play for.
The 28-year-old said: “It was up to us to put some pressure on Hamilton and make it so they have to win their last game. We’ve done it once and need to try to do it all at Dundee.
“Our results after Christmas have been good – we’ve lost one game in seven and that was to Celtic which is good form.
“I still look at games when we went away to Hearts, Aberdeen and Hamilton and should have won them all as we were the better team.”
Dee will have youth coach James McPake in charge after Jim McIntyre was sacked after a run of 11 losses in 12.
McGinn said: “I used to play with Jazza so I know he’ll get a reaction.
“It will be a tough game. We can only hope St Johnstone are also at it.”