Ross: Harsh words motivate us

St Mirren manager Jack Ross insists he uses his side’s critics as motivation to drive them on.

Ross, who took over the Paisley squad back in November, claims the constant bombardment of people writing off the Buddies’ survival hopes can only be a good thing when it comes to geeing up his players.

And, with a crucial run of victories coming up, including league clashes with fellow relegation candidates Ayr United and Dumbarton, the St Mirren manager is keen to ensure that his players know exactly what people think of them — even if he does have full faith in them.

Ross said: “The fact that people say we are dead and buried is the phrase I use all the time as motivation because, if you are written off, then it should drive you on to prove people wrong.

“From my own point of view, my belief in this group of players has not changed.

“I have obviously tried to freshen things up and I’ll continue to do so, but the core group of players, I believe, are good enough.”

Having watched his side produce the Scottish Cup upset of the weekend with a win over Dundee, Ross told Express Sport that he wasn’t as surprised as punters from around the country.

He says that he fully expected Saints to go to Dens Park and compete, but he was more impressed by the fact that his side managed to record a clean sheet.

The blank was only Saints’ second since July, with their last coming in a 1-0 win over Raith Rovers back in December.

Ross added: “They haven’t not competed in a lot of the games since I’ve been in charge, with the exception of the Queen of the South and Morton games.

“Apart from that, I’ve been pleased with most performances. We haven’t always gained as many points as we should have or deserved, so on Saturday we got both things right in terms of the performance and the result.

“The clean sheet aspect of that makes a difference because we have not had very many of them this season and that makes it difficult to win games.”