SNS GroupCraig McLeish has urged St Mirren to preserve their cup “legend” status by avoiding relegation.
The Saints famously beat Celtic 3-1 in the Premier Sports Cup Final in December, but the Buddies’ league struggles saw them finish 11th in the William Hill Premiership this term.
The Paisley side will face Partick Thistle tonight in the play-off final first leg, with the return match set to be played at The SMISA Stadium on Monday.
The interim boss, who took over the reins when Stephen Robinson left for Aberdeen in March, has no doubt he wants the players to be remembered for their trophy heroics against the league champions.
He said: “We want this season to be remembered for winning the cup, and these players deserve to be legends of the club.
“Now that’s my responsibility, our responsibility as a group, to be able to look back on the season with that positive outlook on it.
“It’s not a situation we want to be in right now as a club, but we have to handle it.
“We have to navigate it, and then hopefully we get to look back on it and look at it for all the positives, and again, these players deserve to go down in the history books of the club, and be remembered positively.”
St Mirren took the League Cup trophy back to Paisley for the first time in 13 years when they triumphed at Hampden Park over a Celtic side led by Wilfried Nancy.
McLeish is adamant he should be in the hot seat regardless of which division the Paisley club play in next season.
The head of academy said: “That’s what I want to do, regardless of the outcome. Obviously, we want the outcome to be positive, and I want to take the job on at that point.
“If that’s the other outcome. I still feel like I’m the best person to take the club forward.
“The club is going to change slightly on our approach on what we’re doing, no matter where we are next season in terms of developing more young players and bringing more of our young players through.
“We want to become the best development club in the country.
“Whether that’s for players like Killian Phillips and Miguel Freckleton who come up from down south, who we help then get onto the next step of their career, or bringing our own young players through.
“And just with my experience of working with the young players at the club, there’s no better person to be able to transition us into that new phase of the club, the new cycle, and be able to kind of bring those young players through.”
The William Hill Premiership play-off first leg takes place tonight at Firhill with an 8pm kick off. The return leg is scheduled to be played on Monday at the same time.
Follow STV News on WhatsApp
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
