Marcus Fraser admits he and his Buddies will have to keep a close eye on free-scoring Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland.
But the determined defender insists they can shut out the Premiership’s joint-top marksman with another battling collective effort this afternoon.
The Edinburgh side travel to the SMiSA Stadium in fine form, spearheaded by stand-in skipper Shankland who has netted six times in his last four appearances in maroon.
The Saints themselves are on an incredible nine-game unbeaten run at home, having won six and drawn three in Paisley this season since a narrow opening day defeat to Motherwell.
With home advantage on their side, Fraser firmly believes the hosts can bag another positive result today, as long as they stay switched on to the attacking threat posed by Shankland and his Gorgie team-mates.
He told Renfrewshire Live Sport: “Shankland’s stats are really good right now. He’s been touted to get back in the Scotland squad so obviously he’s been doing well.
“Wherever he’s gone, he’s scored goals, everyone knows that about him. He’s always in the right place at the right time.
“I think we need to have our guard up. He’s working harder and is certainly getting his just rewards.
“I was up against him in the Championship years ago with Ross County. He was banging in the goals for Ayr and at one point they went top of the league ahead of us. That’s how well they were doing on the back of his goals. He went to Dundee United, again scored a lot of goals and they went up.
“He’s hit the ground running this season and it’s up to us to stop that.
“We are a strong unit as a team, not just defensively but the midfield too and we defend from the front as well so I think it’s going to be everyone’s job to stop him.
“Especially individual battles at the back are going to be key at some stages of the game, but as a squad we defend together so we’ll be looking to do well against him.
“The key aim is for a clean sheet at the end of the day. Whether it’s stopping him, a defender, a right-back or whoever, you just want a clean sheet.
“We are a strong team unit. The way that we show teams into different spaces, it’s a collective thing and it’s definitely one of our strengths.”
Today’s clash with Hearts will swiftly be followed up with a trip to Tynecastle next Friday in a tough double-header for the Saints.
Fraser is confident St Mirren can pick up results that keep the Paisley side within touching distance of the Jambos who currently sit third in the Premiership table.
If anything, he’s targeting cutting the gap to the Edinburgh side by the end of next week.
Fraser said: “Hearts have great strength in depth and budget-wise it’s a lot higher than us.
“But we can only do our job on the park and win games against them, then we can hopefully stay touch tight to them.
“Of course that’s the aim, go out and try and win every game. If you can’t win it then pick up points along the way.
“I think we’ve done that well so far. We’ll be hoping for a solid foundation that can go on and help us win the game.
“The focus is pushing up the table. If you let the foot off the gas and a few teams below start to pick up points then you start to look behind you as well.
“We just take it one game at a time, focusing on collective performances and continuing to do that.
“Our home games have been brilliant. Any team coming here now knows they’re in for a tough game.
“It’s up to us to create that atmosphere with the fans off the park by creating that tempo on the park.”
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