Mark O’Hara insists St Mirren must use their shock early Premier Sports Cup exit as a catalyst heading into their Premiership campaign.
The Buddies were punted out of the competition by League One side Airdrie on Tuesday night, having already suffered a disappointing home defeat at the hands of Championship side Arbroath.
Despite the early setbacks O’Hara still firmly believes in the squad Stephen Robinson has assembled, having arrived in Paisley in May.
The former Motherwell man is confident the Saints will turn things around, as long as they take heed of the warning signs currently facing them.
O’Hara told Renfrewshire Live Sport: “The cup is a good opportunity to start the season well and we’ve fallen short.
“As a group we’re very disappointed in the outcome. It’s eye-opening.
“Hopefully that’s the scare we need to kick-start our season.
“We need to keep the belief. We’ve had four good weeks of training and my view is we’ve got a really strong squad here.
“We’ll have a successful season, but this is a tough test and we’ve got to stick together.
“We’ve got to show more aggression and we will do that in the coming weeks.
“When I spoke to the manager and those at the club before I joined, it seems like there’s so much in front of us and good times ahead.
“I don’t doubt they’ll come. I believe we’ll turn it around and the manager believes in us.”
St Mirren’s cause on Tuesday wasn’t helped when Greg Kiltie was sent off midway through the first half for a dangerous high challenge.
Having come through the ranks with the midfielder at Kilmarnock, O’Hara was quick to absolve the playmaker of any serious wrongdoing and backed him to make amends when the Premiership season kicks off.
O’Hara said: “It’s obviously unfortunate. There’s definitely no intent there and he’s gutted. I’ve known Greg since we came through at Kilmarnock together. It’s not even out of character, because he didn’t mean it.
“It wasn’t a tackle that was intended.
“He was blindsided, stuck his leg up and unfortunately caught the boy.
“From where I was it was completely accidental. I’m sure he’ll put it right in the coming weeks.”
While Tuesday’s dismal 2-0 defeat was ultimately one to forget for the Paisley club and their supporters, it was Barrhead boy O’Hara’s first game with the armband on.
The midfielder won’t be wrestling Joe Shaughnessy for the full-time captaincy any time soon.
But the 26-year-old is eager to lead the Saints whenever the opportunity presents itself.
O’Hara added: “Obviously it’s very disappointing to lose my first game as captain. But it was still a privilege to wear the armband and lead the club. If called upon to do it again I’m more than happy to step forward.
“Joe is obviously the captain and he’s a brilliant captain. But if for whatever reason he isn’t playing, I’m happy to take on that responsibility.”
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