Sometimes the international break gives struggling Scottish top-flight clubs a welcome reprieve from league duty.
When you’re on a bad run, getting a free weekend and two weeks to get the majority of your side on the training pitch can be a real blessing for managers.
Particularly if they’ve also already racked up a sizeable injury list.
For St Mirren, that couldn’t have been further from the truth during this break.
The Buddies had been in fine form on the pitch, winning four of their last five games – the last of which was, of course, that sensational 2-0 win against Ange Postecoglou’s in-form Celtic.
After struggling with injuries earlier on in the campaign, the Saints had also gone into that clash with the Hoops with a fully-fit squad to choose from, bar Toyosi Olusanya who is a longer term absentee.
While often hoping for a break come international duty time, this time around the Buddies, perhaps, would have preferred to keep straight on going and hope the momentum continued to keep them flying high at the top end of the table.
Instead they’ve been forced to bide their time ahead of tomorrow’s clash with Livingston, a side who have inflicted a fair amount of Premiership and League Cup pain in recent seasons.
David Martindale’s Lions beat St Mirren in the semi-finals of the League Cup last year.
The Lions also pipped them to a top six spot in the 2020/21 Premiership campaign on goal difference alone.
Tomorrow, Stephen Robinson’s side know a win against the West Lothian side would ensure they stay fourth in the table at least – with the potential to leap to third if Hearts slip up against Rangers earlier in the day.
While there’s still a hell of a long way to go in this campaign, the split comes around sooner than you think and the stronger a position the Paisley club can be in by the time we reach the World Cup break in November, the better chance they have of finally cracking their way into the top half.
In recent years, the Buddies have either left themselves too much to do late on with the split approaching, or not had the strength in depth to hold on to a spot when they’ve been in there already.
Tony Fitzpatrick has never hidden his desire to see the club return to the upper end of the Premiership table and he was bang on when he told the Paisley Daily Express this week that he believes the club finally have the squad to get over the line this time.
Keeping the likes of Joe Shaughnessy, Greg Kiltie, Eamonn Brophy and Ryan Flynn at the SMISA Stadium means they’re unlikely to be caught short again in terms of numbers.
Especially with the World Cup break giving injured players an even better chance to recover in time for the second part of the season.
The desire of Australian summer recruits Keanu Baccus and Ryan Strain to impress their national team boss Graeme Arnold and sneak a place in their country’s World Cup squad could also play a pivotal part as the Saints look to solidify their place in the top six this season.
Chairman John Needham was absolutely right when he tempered his own joy at the club’s brilliant start to the campaign by saying it was just that – a start.
But it does appear that the Buddies finally have all the pieces in place, and the right manager at the helm, to maintain a place in the upper reaches of the Premiership.
It would certainly be a nicer problem to have if St Mirren are constantly wishing they didn’t have an international break to disrupt an excellent run of
form.
Hopefully, they can pick up exactly where they left off in Paisley against Celtic and prove to Livingston they’re a cut above them now.
READ MORE: