St Mirren's Paul Gallacher bids for SPL winter warmer

Dec 2 2009 by Paul Behan, Paisley Daily Express

GOALIE Paul Gallacher is hoping the Buddies will be in red-hot form during December as they bid to make sure they aren’t frozen out of the race for a top six finish in the SPL.

Last Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to title-chasing Celtic at Parkhead has dragged Gus MacPherson’s side down to ninth spot in the league.

Saints now face a tricky trip to Tannadice this weekend to face in-form Dundee United, before they play host to bottom dogs Falkirk and then take on St Johnstone away.

And Gallacher reckons it’s essential that Saints pick up as many points as possible between now and Christmas if they want to ensure they avoid a relegation dogfight this season.

He told Express Sports: “There have been a few games recently where we have played well but not picked up the points we deserved.

“It’s now getting to the stage where we would take a poor performance and maybe a win instead because picking up points is essential.

“We’re going into a tricky period during which we will be playing games that people think we should be winning, or at least getting some sort of positive result from.

“It’s in these particular games where we should be picking up points.

“In the past couple of weeks, we have been performing well but not had much to show for that.

“So it would be nice if we could put in a performance and get the result as well.

“We are getting dragged down to near the bottom of the league now.

“But we have come through quite a tricky patch and are going into a run of games where we hope to pick up a good number of points.”

Gallacher’s form has made him a smash hit with the Saints faithful since he signed from Dunfermline in the summer.

And his status as the number one choice for the Buddies was underlined again at the weekend as he made a string of impressive stops against Celtic.

He pulled off a memorable save from a netbound effort by Danny Fox and followed that up with a sensational double stop from Scott McDonald’s penalty kick late on.

But the modest keeper has shrugged off his heroics, insisting that his display did not make up for an ultimately disappointing result.

Gallacher said: “We played well for large parts of the game against Celtic.

“But they obviously have a little bit of class and can bring that to the game.

“Aiden McGeady was the main threat for them because he put some great crosses into the box but we performed well.

“We battled away and it was good for myself to chip in with the penalty save.

“That sort of thing doesn’t happen too often, so it was a little bonus.

“At the time, I felt great but then I realised that we had still got beaten 3-1, so it made no difference.”