Stephen Robinson lauded his St Mirren players for embracing the challenge of a European shootout with Dundee after they romped to an impressive 3-1 win at Dens Park.
The Buddies took a huge step towards securing their first crack at continental competition for 37 years as goals from Alex Gogic, Scott Tanser and Toyosi Olusanya helped them move five points clear of their hosts with three games to play.
Robinson was delighted with the way his team handled the occasion on a day when they would have been overtaken by Dundee if they had lost.
“The players were fantastic from the first whistle,” said the Saints boss. “We said before the game, ‘Go and embrace this occasion, we’re bringing 2,000 fans up, these are the occasions as a wee boy you go and work for and want to be involved in’.
“It’s not pressure, it’s enjoyable and they savoured it today. They looked like they were enjoying their football from start to finish. I thought we thoroughly deserved to win.”
Despite the magnitude of the victory, Robinson knows his side still have work to do to secure their place in the Europa Conference League qualifying round.
“It’s certainly a step in the right direction,” he said. “There’s nine more points to play for and two big home games and we want to finish the season as strongly as we possibly can.
“There’s a real determination in that dressing room to finish this off now.”
Dundee gave themselves a glimmer of hope when substitute Michael Mellon pulled one back in the 76th minute, but manager Tony Docherty was disappointed with the flat nature of his side’s performance in such a huge match.
“First of all I must give real credit to St Mirren,” he said. “They started on the front foot and put us on the back foot and I don’t think we ever recovered. It was very disappointing.
“It was a bit of an anomaly because it was uncharacteristic of us, particularly at home.
“I don’t think we ever got a foothold in the game. We made a change at half-time and made five changes in the game to try to address a lot of issues.
“I just felt we were swimming against the tide a wee bit. I find it difficult to be hard on those players because over a season they have been fantastic but today was a day that wasn’t to be.”
Let's start our Daily Laugh today. Let's see at the statistics of the 4 Lords. And Man City are back. PSG are reportedly helping save Lyon from RELEGATION to Ligue 2! PALMEIRAS BEAT BOTAFOGO IN EXTRA TIME TO REACH THE LAST EIGHT OF THE CLUB WORLD CUP Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami have The HARDEST ROUTE to The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup FINAL! It took a long delay and extra time, but Chel...
Williams demands guarantee from Barca amid fears of Olmo situationAccording to Marca, Nico Williams has reportedly informed Athletic Club through his agent that he wants to don the Barcelona shirt from next season and is close to signing a six-year contract. However, the player reportedly wants a guarantee from Barca that they will be able to register him with La Liga after triggering his release ...
ATLANTA -- Paris Saint-Germain manager Luis Enrique warned his players against ignoring the offensive threats of Inter Miami in Sunday's Club World Cup round-of-16 match, emphasizing the damage that can be done by experienced stars Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets."Anyone who relaxes for 10 seconds in football already knows where they are. It's not like there's no dou...
Arsenal finished second in the Premier League for a third successive season in 2024-25 – but the fact that Liverpool leapfrogged them was undoubtedly frustrating.In 2022-23, the Gunners were runners-up with 84 points, five points behind champions Manchester City. A year later, they improved to 89 points, closing the gap to Pep Guardiola's side to two points.The 2024-25 campaign looked like t...
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim is reportedly keen to bring in his former colleague Acacio Valentim as part of a coaching reshuffle.The Portuguese boss is eager to avoid another disappointing season following a wretched first year in charge. In his debut season, Amorim led the Red Devils to a 14th place finish in the Premier League and suffered defeat in the Europa League final against Spur...
Cristiano Ronaldo to join up with Portuguese boss at Al-NassrAl-Nassr have reached an agreement with veteran Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus and look set to announce him as their new manager.The Saudi Pro League club have been looking for a new manager following Stefano Pioli’s decision to step down and return to Italy with Fiorentina.Jesus, 70, who left Al-Hilal at the end of the 2024-25 campa...
Raphinha keen to see Nico Williams at BarcelonaBarcelona winger Raphinha was full of praise for reported target Nico Williams as the club step up their pursuit of the Spain international.Barcelona are working tirelessly to bring the 22-year-old to the Camo Nou having been heavily linked with him for the past two years.Williams is understood to be keen on the move but his current club, Athletic, ar...
Alexander-Arnold: Real Madrid won't take Juventus lightlyTrent Alexander-Arnold says Real Madrid players are determined to win the Club World Cup.Real will meet Juventus in the tournament's round of 16 this weekend.New fullback signing Alexander-Arnold declared: "Both are very good teams (City and Juve), not least because they made it through the group stage."It's always going to be tough, no matt...
Pogba drops fresh Monaco move teaser onlinePaul Pogba has hinted he's set to undergo his medical with AS Monaco.The France international is due to sign for Monaco as a free agent after he passes his medical tests in the Principality.Pogba has dropped a hint on social media about his activities amid reports that he is due in France this weekend to complete his return to football.Pogba posted a self...
Raphinha happy to see Barcelona miss out on FIFA Club World CupBarcelona ace Raphinha has criticised the sheer number of game top clubs are having to play as the FIFA Club World Cup reaches the latter stages.Barcelona missed out on a place in the FIFA Club World Cup due to their poor performances in recent Champions League campaign.Raphinha doesn’t appear to be too bothered, however, hitting...
- 1 Transfer news & rumours LIVE
- 2 Arsenal interested in signing Cristhian Mosquera
- 3 Wayne Rooney gets Erling Haaland ponytail in shock new look
- 4 Arsenal have little chance of Liverpool target
- 5 Man United close in on Bryan Mbeumo
- 6 Chelsea transfer at 'final stages'
- 7 Man Utd close in on Bryan Mbeumo! Red Devils agree £60m+ fee with Brentford as Premier League rivals iron out final transfer details
- 8 Alfie makes clear Haaland commitment to Man City
- 9 Club World Cup 2025: Benfica v Chelsea predictions, best bets and odds
- 10 Salzburg vs Real Madrid Prediction 27 June 2025