Jim Goodwin can’t wait for the second half of the season to kick off this evening at Tannadice.
That’s because the Buddies boss is determined to put in a better showing than the first as he asks his players to prove they’re a better pool of players than their recent form suggests.
St Mirren take on Dundee United tonight looking to pick up what would be their first win in a whopping 12 matches.
Currently sitting perilously close to the relegation play-off spot in the Premiership table, Goodwin knows the importance of the upcoming hectic fixture list.
While reaching the top six remains an ambition, staying in the top flight is imperative for the Paisley club as they look to build on the relative success of last season’s seventh place finish.
And Goodwin believes his squad have the quality to bounce back over the coming games before the split and prove the doubters wrong, starting with tonight’s trip north to take on Dundee United in their much anticipated first clash of 2022.
Goodwin told Express Sport: “The break came at a great time for us as a club, to be honest.
“With the amount of covid cases we had before the break it couldn’t have come at a better time.
“We had one or two injury concerns as well but now we’ve had the best part of three weeks to get everybody right.
“In the main we’re in good shape now going into the second half of the season.
“We haven’t quite got the results I feel the quality of this squad should have got in the first half of the season.
“We’ve had an opportunity in the break to press the reset button and work on one or two things. Hopefully that will pay off, starting against Dundee United.
“I think we need to improve in the second half of the season, it’s as simple as that.
“We need to get a better points total. The number of points we’ve accumulated isn’t enough for the quality of the group.
“We haven’t been playing terribly throughout the course of the season.
“But I spoke to the boys when they came back from the break and said we can’t have any impact on what has been and what has gone.
“We have to now look ahead, look to the present and be positive about the future. We need to be optimistic and it’s a clean slate for everybody.
“It’s a new year and hopefully we can start it on a positive note against Dundee United.”
While St Mirren have struggled for form in recent months, their opponents tonight haven’t had their troubles to seek either.
The Terrors are on a miserable run themselves and will be hoping the winter break can help them break a woeful run that saw them lose their last five matches on the spin before the interval.
With a big crowd expected to descend on Tannadice with crowd restrictions now lifted, Goodwin is hoping he can use the hoardes of home support against Tam Courts’ struggling side by creating an atmosphere of apprehension.
Goodwin explained: “The last 17 games we’ve drawn nine, which is just not good enough.
“We’re at the business end of the season now and we need to find a way to win.
“It’s fair to say neither of us are the form team in the league, based on the last 10 games. They’ve won one and lost seven, including their last five.
“They’ll be nervous and apprehensive about the game because they’re the home team.
“I’d expect a good turnout, there’s always a great atmosphere and the big crowds can work for you and sometimes against you.
“They’ll need big characters to play in front of big expecting crowds.
“It’s up to us to go and put them under pressure and try and create a negative atmosphere.
“Hopefully we can use that to our advantage.”
Off the pitch St Mirren supporters are nervously awaiting any news of possible incomings, with the Paisley club so far being linked with moves for Hibs midfield duo Scott Allan and Alex Gogic.
Goodwin is adamant the club will have to wait for funds to become available through current fringe players moving away from Paisley over the next few weeks.
The Saints manager is confident that will happen, and insists it’s only right that those currently out of the picture are given the best possible chance of earning themselves a new deal over the next few months away from the SMISA Stadium.
Goodwin added: “We’ve had a couple of conversations with two or three players, prior to the break, just to be fair to them.
“Players are desperate to get game time and for some individuals we simply can’t guarantee them that here. It’s important as a manager to be fair to them.
“We don’t want to just keep them dragging along to the end of the season when one or two of them are going into the last few months of their contract.
“They’ve got responsibilities outside football, in terms of families and mortgage payments.
“I need to be fair and give them the best opportunity to go and earn a contract somewhere else next season.
“We’ve had those conversations and now it’s with them and their representatives to come back to us with something that
suits.”
