McLean wants a perfect 10 for his Buddies

Oct 24 2012 by Paul Behan, Paisley Daily Express

St Mirren midfielder Kenny McLean last night revealed he has set his sights on reaching double figures in the goalscoring stakes this season.

McLean reckons he passed up too many chances for the Buddies last season.

And he aims to make up for that by finding his shooting boots during the rest of the 2012/13 campaign.

McLean already has three goals to his credit this season – including a memorable 40-yard strike against Dundee at Dens Park.

And he’s confident he can help to fire Saints into the top six of the SPL by increasing his tally to at least 10 before the campaign comes to an end.

McLean told Express Sports: “I’ve managed to get three goals so far – two in the league and one in the cup – and 10 is definitely realistic.

“Last season, I scored four but I also missed some games through injury.

“With the positions I got myself into, I feel I could have scored more. There were chances created for me. If I’d had a bit more composure, then maybe I could have pushed for 10 goals last year.

“I’m hoping that, for the rest of this season, I can keep getting myself into those positions and take the chances when they come along.”

McLean has won plenty of plaudits this season for his performances for Saints, as well as for Scotland’s Under-21s.

However, like the rest of his Buddies, he had an off-day at the weekend as the Paisley team were thumped 5-0 by SPL leaders Celtic.

Now he aims to make up for that by bagging all three points when Dundee United visit St Mirren Park on Saturday.

McLean said: “It definitely hurts to be beaten by a scoreline like that but we need to let it go.

“You can look at Celtic and say that they played really well but what is frustrating from our point of view is how easy we made it for them.

“We can’t change it. The only way we can make things better is by getting back onto the park and showing what we can do.

“It’s hugely important that we learn what we can from that defeat and lift ourselves as quickly as we can.”