St Mirren interim head coach Craig McLeish said his players fought for each other and stuck together after a result that left them needing only to keep pressing on with three games left. McLeish called it a really good performance at a difficult place to come, and said the next step is simple: build momentum and confidence while the season runs down.
“Now it’s about building momentum and confidence for the last three games,” McLeish said. “I’ve had massive belief in the group since day one.”
The win mattered because St Mirren have now won four games since Christmas, with McLeish in charge for three of them. He said that record showed the team already had more in it than many outsiders may have thought. “We’ve won four games since Christmas and I’ve been in charge for three of them, so I know it’s in them. I know I’ve made improvements. We just need to keep that going and take care of what’s in front of us,” he said.
St Mirren’s recent progress sits against the memory of their last play-off involvement in 2019, when they squeezed past Dundee United on penalties to stay up. Vaclav Hladky saved three spot-kicks in that shootout, a night still likely to shape how the club thinks about the stretch they are now entering. This time, the issue is not survival in one match but whether they can turn one good result into a run that carries them through the final three games.
The pressure at Kilmarnock was matched by relief from the home side. Neil McCann said it felt brilliant and that things had looked pretty bleak when his staff arrived. He pointed to the people working behind the scenes and called it a special evening knowing Kilmarnock will be in the Premiership next season.
McCann said: “It feels brilliant. When we came in here it looked pretty bleak. I have to compliment all the staff behind the scenes.” He added: “It’s a big night tonight, Saturday was a big afternoon. I just felt we’d do something. It’s a special evening knowing we’ll be in the Premiership next season.”
Joe Hugill also said the target had been clear from the start. “That was always the aim when I came here, keeping the club in the Premiership. We want to push on now and get ninth,” he said. “We always felt the goal was going to come. To get the win was the main thing and that’s what we did.”
For St Mirren, the task now is less about what they have already done than whether they can keep the same togetherness for the closing stretch. McLeish has given them credit for the fight inside the group. The next few matches will show whether that belief can carry them beyond one encouraging night and into something more secure.
