MARK O’Hara has promised that he and his St Mirren team mates will channel the pain of their failure to qualify for Europe and make securing a place in continental competition again their top priority next season.
O’Hara was devastated on Saturday when the Paisley club drew with Celtic at Parkhead and missed out on fifth place in the William Hill Premiership and a spot in the Conference League second qualifying round spot in the 2025/26 campaign.
Stephen Robinson’s side performed superbly against Brendan Rodgers’ team in their final fixture and took a shock lead against the champions in the second half when Jonah Ayunga netted.
Read more:
-
Celtic 1 St Mirren 1: Injury-time James Forrest strike salvages draw for champions
-
Scotland's ultras aren't working class heroes - too many are 'still f****** peasants'
-
Why Lewis Ferguson's historic Coppa Italia success could extend his stay at Bologna
That strike saw them momentarily leapfrog Dundee United, who were trailing Aberdeen 1-0 at Tannadice at the time, in the league table.
Unfortunately for captain O’Hara and his fellow St Mirren players, United staged a spirited fightback on Tayside and triumphed 2-1 to consign their nearest challengers to sixth.
“It was deflating,” said the midfielder. “Obviously, you become conscious of what’s going on as the game goes on. I was looking at the fans and they didn't look as joyous as maybe they had before. So I was kind of working out that the results were going our way.
“The manager said that he wanted to keep that unbeaten top six run going and see where it took us. Obviously, it wasn't fully within our control, so the goal was to remain unbeaten and hope that would be enough.
The Barrhead-born player believes the SMiSA Stadium outfit, who played Valur of Iceland and SK Brann on Norway in the Conference League qualifying rounds this season, can be proud of their performance on Saturday as well as their efforts this term and can go into next term with confidence.
“To go to Celtic Park and get a point is always a great result,” he said. “To go unbeaten in the top six is a massive achievement. Although we fell short for Europe this year, it's going to be our goal next season again.
“I'm so proud of everyone. I think to eclipse the points total that we've accumulated in the last few years shows that we've progressed again. That was ultimately the goal.
Read more:
-
More than a dozen charged following Celtic title celebrations
-
Lawrence Shankland opens up on Hearts future with contract talks expected
-
The Brendan Rodgers statement that is set to fuel Lennon Miller to Celtic speculation
“Okay, we've not got Europe. If we look back at the season, there’s definitely been lows and this is one of them. But I think we can be proud of the highs we’ve had. We've always bounced back. We're willing to put that right again next year and get that European space.”
O’Hara added, “I think it’s got to be the goal again. We've shown we've got the quality to compete with the top teams in the league. It's sore just now, but when we look back on it in a few weeks’ time we will see that to go unbeaten in the top six is a massive achievement.
“I think we've got improvement in us. That's what we've done obviously over the year now. We didn't finish fifth this year, but we got more points. That's got to be the goal again next year. We're disappointed now because we didn’t achieve Europe, but we'll be looking to do that again next year.”
