Stephen Robinson is confident that St Mirren will embrace their historic Europa Conference League clash with Valur on Thursday, marking the first time in 37 years that Paisley has hosted European football.
Following a goalless draw in Reykjavik last week, the Buddies are eager to secure a win in front of a sell-out crowd, as they aim to advance past their Icelandic opponents.
Robinson highlighted the significance of this match, which could lead to a potential showdown with either Go Ahead Eagles from the Netherlands or Norway's SK Brann in the next round.
The Northern Irishman believes the passionate home support will boost his team's performance, although he emphasised the need for patience during the game - suggesting this finely-poised tie could go all the way.
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"There was allegedly 200 fans there (in Iceland) and they made a lot of noise," the Buddies boss commented.
“There is going to be 6,000 St Mirren fans on Thursday and that is fantastic and I believe that is – as I have repeatedly said – credit to staff, coaching staff and players here that they have turned out in their numbers and they are obviously enjoying what they see.
“The fans were terrific out in Iceland. There wasn’t many of them but they made an incredible amount of noise.
“Hopefully they will be patient, I know there will be support for the team. They know everybody will be giving absolutely everything to progress into the next round.
“The support is just as important in terms of patience, you can’t win the game in the first five minutes, it is going to be over 90, 96 minutes, maybe longer.
“It is important that everyone stays together and understands that we are playing a very good side.”
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It's the first time St Mirren have experienced continental football since they competed in the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1987 - and Robinson is desperate for this journey to last longer than one qualifying round.
“There is no point in downplaying it, it has been nearly 40 years in the making,” he stated.
“We want to go and embrace it, we want to go and enjoy it, not fear it.
“The players have earned the right for this, they have earned the right to be in the tie, that was the important thing from the first leg and we are going to go and play our game.
“We are going to get the crowd behind us and take the game to Valur.
“We have been very clear – we didn’t want it to be one round.
“Both teams know who they get in the next round so it is certainly a carrot for both teams.
“It is important for Scottish football that everyone represents Scottish football well and shows what a good standard it is and we aim to do that tomorrow night.”
