Stephen Robinson believes St Mirren’s dismal defeat away to Motherwell sparked a turning point in the Paisley club’s season.
The Buddies heavy 4-2 loss at Fir Park last month took their tally of goals conceded at that point to ten in just three games.
Robinson knew that was unacceptable and had some harsh words for his players in the aftermath, both in the dressing room and in the press.
The experienced manager feels that blowout was a pivotal moment though, helping to “galvanise” his squad heading into the latter stages of their Premiership campaign.
Robinson told Renfrewshire Live Sport: “After the Motherwell game we got together as a group of players and staff and everyone agreed the defending had to be better.
“There was no criticism of players that anybody disagreed with. Everyone agreed it had to be better, collectively.
“On the Monday morning we went in and worked our socks off to try and make us more organised together and we’ve done that.
“They’ve really bought into it. Anything I said was what we agreed in the dressing room needed to change.
“The players bought into it. After that Motherwell conversation things changed.
“It doesn’t happen overnight. We’ve yet to achieve what we want to but there’s a lot of great things happening at this football club.
“For example we’ve got a new chief operating officer come in.
“A new head of recruitment. We’ve extended the training ground so the academy link-up is better.
“The club’s going in the right direction. There’s a real positivity around the place and that’s fed into the players. I believe the players are honest with each other and they certainly were after that Motherwell game.
“It’s galvanised everybody and now we’re looking up the way instead of down.”
The Saints know a win against Dundee tomorrow afternoon will secure their top-flight status for another season, which looked in serious danger just a few weeks ago.
Robinson insists his side are still capable of replicating last season’s seventh-place finish. He is hoping to pick up his first home victory since replacing Jim Goodwin, with improving the club’s form at the SMISA Stadium key to his plans for success going forward.
Robinson said: “We’re still aiming for seventh – we have to.
“I believe we can if we put a run of performances together. Last week we were very, very good.
“We showed real pride and energy. If we put performances like that on in the coming days there’s no reason we can’t look up the table and finish seventh.
“When you get the St Mirren fans behind you it’s brilliant. I’ve seen it from being here as an opposition manager.
“Our goal is to get into the top six and your home form is vital to that. We have to pick up our home form and I’m confident we will do that going forward.
“We need to be organised and go and express ourselves. St Mirren is a massive part of the Paisley community.
“They want to see players running their socks off and giving everything.
“When fans see you do that, they get right behind you and it’s like having an extra man. We have to create that siege mentality and get everyone behind us and you do that by hard work.
“The fans have been terrific and we want to give them something to cheer about on Saturday.
“If we play to our strengths I’m really confident going into this game.”
