Lewis Jamieson has the potential to kick on and emulate two of the Scottish Premiership’s most lethal strikers.
That’s the view of St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson after the 21-year-old academy product put pen to paper on a new contract yesterday morning.
The Buddies forward showed his prolific side in the first half of the season while on loan at League One side Airdrie, bagging eight goals in a 10-game stretch before being recalled to Paisley in January to help ease an injury crisis up front.
Robinson firmly believes the confident forward has the quality and talent to follow in the footsteps of Scotland internationals Lawrence Shankland and Kevin Nisbet, who were both late bloomers in the top flight after shining in the lower divisions of the SPFL.
Robinson told Renfrewshire Live Sport: “Lewis has signed a new deal and we’re delighted.
“We got him back in at Christmas and he’s been in here every morning at 8.30am, an hour and a half before everybody else, working his socks off.
“Now he’s getting his rewards as he’s on the verge of the first team.
“I’ve a wee soft spot for him. He’s a character but he’s got immense talent and he’s one of the best finishers at the club.
“He has to be utilised, but the problem is that kids here are probably two years behind where they should be because of covid, the cuts and not having the teams available to have that transition between 18s and first-team.
“We’re playing a little bit of catch-up. Players mature a lot later than they used to. It used to be at 18 they were ready for the first team but now it’s 21, 22.
“I look at Shankland and Nisbet and they both developed very late. I see similar attributes in LJ.
“I’m delighted to see him come good and he’ll be involved with us next season. If not he’ll be out getting good experience somewhere.”
Robinson revealed Jamieson has had to work hard on his mentality, having struggled with initial setbacks just as former Saints star midfielder Ethan Erhahon did.
The Saints gaffer feels letting young players know he has faith in them early can make all the difference to their development on and off the field.
Robinson explained: “Lewis was a kid who’d lost his way a little bit, similar to Ethan.
“We haven’t had a development squad which has been a hindrance for him and some of the other boys like Luke Kenny and Fraser Taylor, who we would’ve loaned out had we had more numbers.
“He’s similar to Ethan, they had a similar mindset. Everything was a disaster, every mistake was the end of the world. Every time you got dropped you were never playing football again.
“But I think when people know you believe in them they can overcome that stuff. And I do fully believe in him.”
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