Goodwin says St Mirren's seventh place finish will aid recruitment

St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin was thrilled to finish top of the bottom six in the Scottish Premiership as they clinched seventh spot on the final day.

The Paisley outfit’s goalless draw with Dundee United was enough to see them leapfrog above Motherwell on goal difference and secure their highest league finish since 1989.

The Buddies also secured their highest points tally, 45 points, since the inception of the SPFL.

St Mirren narrowly missed out on the top six in the closing moment of their final pre-split game but Goodwin, who also led the club to two semi-finals this season, was delighted with the way they finished their league campaign.

Goodwin said: “We have achieved a number of things we haven’t done for decades.

“We have the youngest player to play in the Premiership, most points, highest league finish.

“We have had near misses but it’s not the time to reflect in what we could have done.

“We know with Hearts coming up things will be tougher (next season) but we enjoy the underdog tag. There are positives to take and things to work on for next season.

“We had to reset our goals after missing out on top six and we wanted to be best of the rest and we have achieved that.

“Financially it means a lot for the club with the extra position in this time of real difficulty.

“The money will help bring in quality players and the infrastructure so it means a lot. I’m thrilled to be finishing seventh.”

Dundee United were reduced to 10 men after 71 minutes when Jamie Robson was shown a straight red card by referee Euan Anderson for a rash challenge on substitute Kyle McAllister.

After a poor touch, Robson lunged in on McAllister and caught him on his shin.

However, Dundee United manager Micky Mellon was adamant the referee got it wrong as he defended Robson.

Mellon said: “I would never want my players to hurt a player intentionally, I would never want them to be reckless, and that tackle was none of them.

“The only thing he could be guilty of was a really poor first touch and then he’s made a good honest challenge. Nobody here can tell me that wasn’t an honest challenge for the ball and he’s maybe mistimed it.

“The boy’s got back up and we’ve all got on with it, let the teams play 11 v 11 and fight for seventh place.

“Jamie was terrific all day and I’m gutted for him because he played so well and a moment like that shouldn’t decide how he leaves the game.”