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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Ben Ramage

St Mirren Women head coach asks Buddies to help pack out SMiSA Stadium to reward players for excellent season

St Mirren Women head coach Kate Cooper insists Buddies can still get their football fix in Paisley this weekend.

And she feels a bumper crowd would be an excellent reward for her side who also secured a top-six finish.

While the men’s team have a weekend off due to the Scottish Cup semi-finals, St Mirren Women are preparing for their second appearance at the SMiSA Stadium of the campaign.

Cooper hopes plenty of fans will cheer the team on as they take on Stenhousemuir in their final home game of the season on Sunday.

She told Renfrewshire Live Sport: “The players are very excited to be playing at the SMiSA again.

“We’re hoping for a bigger crowd than last time. If we could double the attendance that would be terrific.

“The men’s team aren’t playing this weekend, so hopefully Saints fans will take this opportunity to come along and give us a great atmosphere for our last home game of the season.

“I don’t think people realise quite how far we’ve come this season. Everyone has worked ever so hard and it’s been a huge turnaround.

“It would be a great reward for the players, to play on that bigger stage along with a bigger crowd.

“We know we’re competing with the Old Firm cup game on Sunday, but hopefully St Mirren fans will pick us over them and come and cheer us on.”

Cooper’s Buddies took inspiration from their second ever appearance at the ground last November, thumping favourites Westdyke 3-0.

With Stenhousemuir the opponents this time round, Cooper is confident her squad can repeat the feat and finish the season with a flourish on what is set to be a brilliant day on and off the pitch.

Cooper said: ““We lost 4-2 to Westdyke last weekend. Again it was a tough fixture, which we knew they would all be after making it into the top-six.

“There were still a lot of positives to take into this weekend. We’re competing very well with these top teams and it’s only a few individual errors and a bit of consistency which are costing us.

“This is a chance to show we can deliver results under pressure and we managed that last time around against Westdyke.

“The stadium gave us an extra edge last time around and hopefully it can make a positive difference this weekend too.”

“The support from the club, SMiSA and the Foundation this season has been incredible and we’re so grateful for it.

“The women’s game is growing and it can help the club to grow too. It’s going to be a real family day out, with 20 girls set to be mascots and our St Mirren ASN (Additional Support Needs) team getting involved at half-time as well.

“We’ll have our girls academy players in the stands too, which hopefully inspires them to make it through and onto that pitch in the future as well.”

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