Saints defender Marcus Fraser wasn’t even born the last time the Paisley club picked up a league win at Ibrox.
St Mirren haven’t tasted an away victory against Rangers since 1991, a run that started before 28-year-old Fraser and the majority of his teammates had even drawn their first breath.
It’s a run that shows the enormity of the task facing the Buddies this afternoon, who know a rare three point haul in Govan would guarantee them a top six finish.
And while a Livingston draw against St Johnstone or a Hibs defeat against Hearts would also secure St Mirren a first top half finish since 1985, regardless of the result in Glasgow, Fraser has his experienced eyes set on picking up an elusive win at Ibrox – instead of allowing thoughts to stray elsewhere.
He told Renfrewshire Live Sport: “The training this week has been brilliant. The tempo has been better than ever, which is obviously a good sign. We’re full of confidence going into the Rangers game and we’re looking forward to it.
“It’s definitely one of the best atmospheres I’ve ever felt in a dressing room. We’ve put good runs together this season, especially at home, and that builds so much confidence.
“We feel we can get a result in every game. This season we’ve also reacted well to setbacks.
“We’re close to doing something special and having a really successful season, but we’ve still got a bit of work to do yet.
“We’ve beaten Celtic a few times recently and we ran Rangers close the last time in Paisley. We got a great win against Hearts last weekend as well.
“You’ve got to go into tough games with confidence and believe you can win them. In football you want to play at the biggest grounds, you want to play at Ibrox.
“Within that dressing room, we’ll be quietly confident we can get the job done.
“I certainly wasn’t born the last time St Mirren won there. A lot of the other boys weren’t either, so of course we’d like to be the team that stops that run.
“We wouldn’t just be happy to do that, though. If we manage it, we’ll be straight onto the next target.”
Fraser, who is set to make his 100th league start for St Mirren this afternoon, was part of the team that painfully missed out on a top six finish back in 2021 on goal difference alone.
A last-minute equaliser against Hamilton cost the Buddies dearly that time around, with Fraser determined to avoid feeling that heartbreak again.
He said: “You must use past disappointment to your advantage, whether it’s just me or other boys who have tasted the same at St Mirren or at other clubs.
“It was a sickener to lose a goal in the last minute (against Hamilton in 2021) to miss out on the top six.
“You have to draw on those experiences and hopefully we can get the job done this time around, so we don’t have to face that feeling again.
“The dressing room that day was so quiet. Everyone was in shock and everyone was hurting. I was gutted.
“Jim Goodwin, the manager then, couldn’t say too much because it was just such a big blow. It just wasn’t meant to be.
“We’ve reset now. We’re on a good run and long may that continue. Hopefully the 100th league start can be a positive one.
“We’ve worked hard throughout the whole season and now we’re into the nitty gritty part of it. Important things are up for grabs and we’ve been working hard to make sure we’re fully prepared for Ibrox.”
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