Stephen Robinson is urging his Buddies to keep being brave when they face Aberdeen at Pittodrie.
St Mirren were as fearless as their boss promised at Celtic Park on Saturday, twice going into the lead and creating numerous other chances to kill the game off before Callum McGregor’s late leveller rescued the champions a point.
The draw keeps the Saints firmly in the race for Europe, with Robinson’s men able to potentially overtake Hibs on Wednesday night depending on positive results in their favour.
And after a brilliant all-round performance against Celtic, the St Mirren boss is urging his squad to keep believing in themselves and take the game to the Dons – who are desperate for points themselves as they look to fend off a late charge for third spot by Hearts.
Robinson told Renfrewshire Live Sport: “I thought the boys were terrific against Celtic. To be frustrated not to win the game tells you it was a magnificent performance, to a man.
“It’s difficult to ask any more from them. We created chances and we asked the boys to be brave and they were.
“We passed the ball, we kept possession and we created a lot of chances. With two games to go we’re still in the race for Europe.
“Being frustrated not to win at Celtic Park shows what a good group of boys we’ve got and how far we’ve come.
“It’s difficult to pick individuals out. There’s not a bad performance in there, both in terms of their energy and their quality.
“We played under pressure. This Celtic team are a very, very good side. At some stage that quality comes through and it did with McGregor’s goal. It’s top class and it’s difficult to stop.
“My frustration is if we had a few boys that we could bring on to get us 10 yards higher up the pitch they might not have got into that territory.
“If we had a little bit more depth in the squad, we could have replaced the two strikers with Jonah Ayunga and Alex Greive. When you see what Celtic do to give them that lift off the bench, that’s probably the frustration.
“But I’m so, so proud of the performance. We are very good when we step forward and press teams.
“We didn’t do it against Hibs for 25 minutes and we were 2-0 down.
“We were brilliant against Hearts and then we played with a bit of fear so the lesson is, be brave.
“Put balls into the box and press with intensity and that’s got to be our model going forward.”
Robinson revealed that while St Mirren’s players were happy with their performance at Parkhead, they knew they’d missed a rare opportunity to take all three points in Glasgow.
Nevertheless, that point could prove crucial should it help them finish fifth in the Premiership – which would be enough to see them qualify for the Europa Conference League next season as long as Celtic beat Inverness in the Scottish Cup final next month.
Robinson said: “The boys were happy. They know they played very well but there was also a slight frustration, which is rare when you come to Celtic Park, not to get three points.
“I think we deserved it. Celtic had lots of possession in areas that didn’t hurt us but their quality comes through.
“They make changes, they change their system, they are very clever.
“I thought tactically we coped with it really well. Yes, there is a frustration but there’s two games to go and we are still right in that race for Europe.
“If we can get a slot for fifth place we might be looking for Celtic to do us a favour at some stage.
“But we would like to be in that position to see what happens.
“We have proved we can do it. Against Hearts, we were 20 seconds away from three points.
“We proved it against Celtic, we were 2-1 up and creating chances. We know we shouldn’t fear anybody.
“They are human, they make mistakes and sometimes they play better than other times, but what I never get is a lack of intensity and effort from a fantastic group of boys.”
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