- Author, David Currie
- Role, BBC Scotland
There is no pressure and no fear as St Mirren pursue qualification to European football for the first time since 1987, according to manager Stephen Robinson.
With five Scottish Premiership games remaining, the Paisley side sit fifth, which would ensure a Europa Conference League qualifying place.
“There’s absolutely no pressure on us,” Robinson said. “We have achieved what we set out to achieve, but we’ve got into this position and within our grasp is European football and we have to believe that we can go on and do that.
“Last season, we got a monkey off our back. It had been so long since we’d been in the top six, so maybe subconsciously there was a feeling of ‘okay, we’ve achieved what we’d set out to do’.
“This season, we set out to get top six, but in the dressing room, we set out to get Europe. We’ve been in the top five for a long time – we have to try to cement that.”
Last season, St Mirren failed to win after the Premiership split into two sections of six, finishing sixth, with Robinson looking for improvements in “mentality and decision making” this time round.
Title-chasing Rangers visit on Sunday, having won 21 of their last 22 league meetings with the Buddies.
“This season, we haven’t had what I’d call a marquee performance or result against either Rangers or Celtic,” Robinson said.
“We have had a lot of points against the bottom-six sides, but we haven’t managed to take points off the top two and that has to be the goal.”
Although Rangers have dropped points to Ross County and Dundee in recent weeks, Robinson thinks the Ibrox side “have quality all over the pitch and an excellent manager”.
“We are up against opposition that can change the game in a heartbeat and we’ll have to be right at the top of our game,” he added.