Gus: 'We can take the heat'

May 15 2009 by Paul Behan, Paisley Daily Express

ST MIRREN manager Gus MacPherson is confident his players can handle the pressure when they face Falkirk tomorrow in a relegation showdown.

The match is the most important to be played by the Buddies in years as MacPherson’s men know that defeat against the Bairns will almost certainly condemn them to relegation from the SPL.

Saints go into the game on the back of a disastrous run of form that has seen them sink to the bottom of the league.

But MacPherson is hoping his players will come good when it really matters and is quick to point out they are very much aware of what will be at stake as they take to the field at Falkirk at 3pm tomorrow.

He told Express Sports: “The players are not daft. They know the club is the most important thing in all of this.

“We have a game against Falkirk and we need to win. The players know it is now a must-win game for us.”

The 2-1 defeat at the hands of Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Wednesday night has left the beleaguered Buddies clinging to SPL survival by their fingertips.

Saints are now a point adrift of Falkirk, three behind Inverness Caley Thistle and four adrift of both Hamilton Accies and Kilmarnock.

The Paisley men will be relegated to the First Division tomorrow if the Bairns win and Inverness avoid defeat against Killie at Rugby Park.

However, a draw for MacPherson’s side will ensure the relegation issue will not be decided until the final round of fixtures in the bottom six of the SPL on Saturday, May 23.

St Mirren are at home to Hamilton that day, while Falkirk travel north to face Inverness and Killie are away to Motherwell.

MacPherson knows his players will have to cut out the defensive errors that cost them so dearly at Rugby Park on Wednesday night if they are to have any hope of avoiding defeat against the Bairns tomorrow.

He said: “It was poor mistakes that cost us the match against Kilmarnock and that’s something we have to improve upon.

“We did get the reaction we were looking for performance-wise after our two previous defeats in home games but it’s not about performances any more. They don’t matter. It’s about results.

“At this level of football, when we make mistakes, we get punished, especially with the quality of players the SPL has got to offer.

“We’ve lost goals at crucial times during the last three games and that’s been unlike us. It’s something that we can ill-afford.”