St Mirren

Steven Thompson was St Mirren's League Cup hero on the only other time they won the trophy.

This time, he was on BBC Radio Scotland watching his boyhood club replicate the feat 12 years on, and it's clear he was feeling it.

"It's very nostalgic. Although it was 12 or 13 years ago, I was down there doing the same thing with my kids when they were wee," he said.

"You can't describe the feeling, it's just magnificent.

"For the manager - three consecutive top six finishes and now lifting a trophy, he'll get the freedom of the town.

"St Mirren needed to get everything right - and they did that. They should be so proud of how they played as a team and how they, individually, played to their maximum."

Image source, SNS

Image source, SNS

St Mirren midfielder Keanu Baccus on BBC Scotland

"I feel amazing, I can't remember the last trophy I won. I'm lost for words. I left Australia and came here and it's been such a big grind. I'm just so glad I came back to the club. The fans are amazing, they're like a 12th man. I thank the club, God, my family. I'm just so proud of everyone involved. We played with no fear, all faith. We didn't crumble when they scored. This is up there with [playing at] the World Cup, for sure."

St Mirren winger Conor McMenamin on BBC Scotland

"Just proud of all the team, amazing effort from us all. We worked so hard all week, on how we could nullify Celtic and play our own game. We were brilliant. We came here and believed in ourselves, believed we could beat Celtic. It wasn't luck today, we deserved to put our hands on that trophy. It's the only thing this team hasn't got in the last few years - top six finishes, European things. To get silverware now, we'll go down in history."

St Mirren midfielder Killian Phillips on BBC Scotland

"It means the world. When I came to this club, I was a bit lost in football. The last 18 months have been unbelievable, the club has given me so much. To finally give something back is fantastic. The week was tough, we didn't know if they'd play a three or a four at the back with the new gaffer. But we knew where to go on every blade of grass. I'm sure there'll be a few sore heads tomorrow morning. The fans deserve it."

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St Mirren goalscorer Jonah Ayunga on BBC Scotland

"Amazing. We met the fans at the calendar signing this week and this was all they spoke about. To get the chance to play in this, let alone win it and score, I couldn't imagine it any better. Not a bad day's work, eh?

"This is once in a lifetime. I've been playing since I was 17, I'm nearly 30, this was the first time I had a chance to win anything. The manager deserves it. You see what he's done year upon year at St Mirren. This is the icing on the cake."

St Mirren captain [on the day] Marcus Fraser on Premier Sports

"We scored goals at vital times. We had belief all week, we just felt it. We know the quality we've got in the group and backed up with a manager who knew we could win this game. To get the cup win for everybody is brilliant."

St Mirren captain Mark O'Hara on Premier Sports

"It's so special. From the moment I came here it's been nothing but joy, so to cap it off with a cup is amazing. It's been a frustrating and worrying time, I didn't know if I was going to make it [after an injury]. Just to be involved at all is so special. There were nearly a few tears in the pre-match build up but the fans are who we do it for."

St Mirren sensationally roared to Premier Sports Cup victory by stunning beleaguered holders Celtic in a frenetic Hampden final.

Read the full match report here.

Have your say here.

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: "I'm delighted for everyone involved - staff, players. We've got a fantastic group of boys.

"When you speak to people in England, you get top six finishes, they don't understand the parameters, or the disparity of the league. If you're down in England, you've always got a chance because of the amount of games the budgets aren't that drastically different.

"There is a huge disparity here so for us to get a trophy, a small club like St Mirren, to do it in the manner we did... I'm so pleased for the boys.

"It's pride. We're a small squad, small staff, small admin staff, and everyone pulls together. People were saying we'd turn up and we shouldn't ever beat Celtic on paper.

"We came with a belief, play with faith over fear. The fans have had banner up all week. We had a brilliant team meeting before. I knew they believed and how they started proved that.

"We scored from a set play we've worked on. We thought we could move them out of the space. The amount of time you work on set plays and they don't come off! It was brilliant for it to come off in such a big game.

"We sat back after that and I wasn't happy with the last 20 minutes of the first half. We changed it, put Keanu Baccus to man mark [Callum] McGregor, and our two centre forwards man-marked their outside centre-halves. We left the middle one on the ball, and that's where we pressed from.

"I knew we'd create a lot of counter attacking chances doing that. It's nice for the tactics to come off for once.

"People don't realise how tough it is to leave people out of the squad, and off the bench. You can see the celebrations, everyone is part of it even though some are hurting and wanting more.

"That's what I'm proud of - the togetherness at this football club. Mikael Mandron phoned me at 7am this morning, saying he'd been throwing up all night, he was struggling, but he wanted to start.

"For him to be that honest on a day like today, he made a brilliant decision. Dan [Nlundulu] and Jonah [Ayunga] were class up front. That's the level of the guy and how much he loves the teammates and the club, for him to sacrifice that.

"We could have two or three more goals on the counter attack with better decisions, but there was good defending from Celtic. The second half game plan was excellent. I wouldn't say I was calm or relaxed, because you never know with their quality.

"I'm not one for attention. I'll be home at 10pm with my dogs and my wife, but when I look back when my career is finished, I'll be very proud of what I've achieved."

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• St Mirren beat Motherwell 4-1 in the semis to reach their first League Cup final in 12 years.

• The Buddies have only won the trophy once - in 2013, defeating Hearts 3-2 - and been runners-up twice, in 1955-56 and 2009-10.

• Current holders Celtic beat 10-man Rangers 3-1 in extra time to book their place in the final.

• The Parkhead side won their 22nd League Cup last December after beating Rangers on penalties following a 3–3 draw.

• Celtic have had a different scorer for all 11 of their goals in their three cup ties this season, conceding two.

• St Mirren striker Mikael Mandron is the top scorer in the competition this term with seven goals in six games.

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St Mirren winger Malik Dijksteel is a fitness doubt while captain Mark O'Hara is battling to be involved at some stage after six weeks out with a foot problem.

Celtic winger James Forrest is closing in on a return, while Marcelo Saracchi, Alistair Johnston, Callum Osmand (all hamstring), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Achilles) and Jota (knee) remain out.

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Reminders of legends are "all over all the walls" at St Mirren's stadium and Marcus Fraser has challenged the current team to write their own "chapter in the club's history" by winning the Premier Sports Cup.

The Buddies are bidding for their first trophy since the 2013 League Cup success when they face new boss Wilfried Nancy's Celtic at Hampden on Sunday.

Speaking at St Mirren's stadium, Fraser noted the photographs of several successful players and sides, including the 1987 Scottish Cup-winning team and the most recent trophy-winning side of 12 years ago.

The 31-year-old defender, who started his career at Celtic, said: "We've not been really speaking about it, but I think as you can tell, they're all over the walls.

"So you can kind of pick that up for yourself, that you understand how big a game it is and what can happen a few years down the line.

"In 10, 20 years, people will probably still be talking about it [a win] and you can obviously write your own chapter in the club's history.

"So I think that's one of the key aspects that we want to do, really grab the opportunity with two hands and if we can get up on that wall, then in a few years' time, when you walk by it, that would be a great feeling."

Fraser won the trophy with Ross County in 2016 when they beat Hibernian 2-1 and is looking to claim a second winners' medal with Stephen Robinson's side.

He said: "Obviously I was a bit younger back then and you kind of look back and realise the day that you had. It was absolutely brilliant and that's what you want.

"Obviously from a personal point of view, I want to just try and win again and that would be brilliant.

"Every footballer wants to be successful. These moments don't come along in your career all the time, so when it does, you want to grab it with both hands.

"I think when you're younger in your career, sometimes you think that [cup wins] maybe is a norm, but that's not the case.

"You need to sacrifice a lot and really work hard to get here and it's taken me almost 10 years down the line or whatever, so there's been a lot of hard work."

David Currie
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

The BBC's Question Time programme came from Paisley, aka Scotland's town of the year, this week.

I caught most of it, before nodding off as I usually do at that time of night.

As far as I'm aware the host Fiona Bruce didn't canvass panel members about who they thought would win the Premier Sports Cup on Sunday.

If she had, the answer might have been the only thing they agreed on all night (well, the Celtic supporters at least.) Mind you, one or two of the politicians might have tried to please the Buddies in the audience at the town hall with a grandstanding speech in support of the Paisley Saints.

For despite Wilfried Nancy being the first Celtic manager to lose his opening two games, his team will be favourites at Hampden as one would expect.

Celtic are the holders, they've won the competition more often than any other club, they'll have the vast majority of the crowd behind them, haven't lost to the Buddies in their past 15 meetings, and have already beaten them twice this season.

And yet.

Those two Celtic victories have been 1-0 wins. Last-gasp affairs, especially the recent match at the SMISA, settled by a stoppage-time showstopper from Callum McGregor.

St Mirren had a goal chalked off after a VAR check and Conor McMemamin struck the post - so Stephen Robinson's side could count themselves unfortunate not to take at least a point. Let's not forget either it took a deflected Luke McCowan shot to separate the teams on the opening weekend of the season at Celtic Park.

It's also worth pointing out that while the champions are having a wobble, St Mirren have ended a three match-losing streak with four points from matches against Aberdeen and Dundee United. So things are definitely looking up from a Buddies perspective.

Let's not forget too that while Nancy's managerial career is in its early stages with players trying to get to grips with his tactics and formation, Robinson's modus operandi is tried, tested and successful.

Compared to Celtic, St Mirren's League Cup journey this season has been an epic one in which they've enjoyed some of their best results, with wins over Premiership sides Hearts, Kilmarnock and Motherwell in the knockout stage.

Maybe the town of the year will have something else to celebrate on Sunday night.

Little wonder supporters have taken to displaying banners which read 'Faith Over Fear'.

Caleb Akpo-Young
BBC Sport Scotland

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St Mirren will contest their first final in 12 years when they take on holders Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup showpiece at Hampden on Sunday.

Here's how Stephen Robinson's men made it to the final.

Group D winners

St Mirren's journey to Hampden began all the way back in July, in the group stages. After a goalless draw in their opener against Arbroath, who snatched the bonus point with a shootout victory, the Buddies beat Forfar 2-1 then skelped Annan 8-2, helped by a hat-trick from Mikael Mandron.

A 2-1 closing victory over Ayr, thanks to Killian Phillips' double, earned top spot with 10 points from 12.

Second round: St Mirren 1-1 Hearts (5-4 on pens)

The Paisley side had their work cut out against high-flying Premiership leaders Hearts in round two.

Alex Gogic put Saints ahead before half-time, only for Oisin McEntee to level with just over 10 minutes to play. The tie went the distance and Shamal George's save from Claudio Braga's penalty in the shootout proved decive as the Buddies squeezed through.

Quarter-final: Kilmarnock 2-2 St Mirren (3-5 on pens)

Yet again St Mirren had to progress on spot-kicks. Mandron and Jayden Richardson struck either side of Robbie Deas' equaliser but a late penalty from Bruce Anderson took the tie to a shootout.

Malik Dijksteel capitalised on Kyle Magennis' miss for the hosts to set up a semi-final against Motherwell.

Semi-final: Motherwell 1-4 St Mirren

The Buddies had no reason to fear as they cruised past Jens Berthel Askou's highly-praised Steelmen and were two to the good at half-time thanks to Mandron and Dan Nlundulu.

Callum Hendry pulled one back late on but it wasn't enough to mount a comeback as Robinson's side found another two goals courtesy of Richard King and Mandron.

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Stephen Robinson is urging St Mirren to have "faith over fear" in Sunday's Premier Sports Cup final against Celtic at Hampden.

It's the Buddies' first cup final since winning the competition in 2013 and Robinson wants his players to embrace the occasion and make themselves legends.

St Mirren picked up their first league win since September with a 2-0 victory over Dundee United in Paisley last weekend, while Celtic lost 2-1 to Hearts in Wilfried Nancy's managerial debut.

St Mirren have faced Celtic twice this season, losing 1-0 to a late goal each time.

"The fans put up on all the banners, faith over fear," said manager Robinson.

"Really believe in what we can do. We've earned the right to be here. We started the competition way, way back, it feels like about five years ago now, but such a long time ago, so we've earned that right.

"What I have iterated to them is you have to have faith and the how do you have faith? Show them what they've done. And we've constantly spoken about ourselves, we've constantly shown how we've created problems for Celtic.

"There will be a nervous energy, of course. We aren't Celtic who get to every cup final or every other cup final.

"So we have to embrace the day and enjoy the day but most of all what I coin it with is have faith over fear. Really believe in the system, in each other, in the staff, and the stuff we've put on in preparation.

"We know the players do, we know they believe in that. We've got results in the last couple of weeks, it's given us the faith that we're back on track again.

"We go into the game with full of hope, full of anticipation and, as I say, the faith that we can achieve a result.

"We see all the photographs of the teams that have been very, very successful here and won trophies and they're held in such high regard. What I try and do is to tell the players 'We want your names there, we want your pictures there.'

"They've got their pictures up for the European achievements, for the top-six achievements, now we want them up [for winning the cup]. We want them to be remembered, we want them to be recognised everywhere they go for the rest of their life.

"That's the opportunity we have and that is the driving force."

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Stephen Robinson has been speaking to the media as St Mirren prepare to face Celtic in Sunday's Premier Sports Cup final.

Here are the key lines from the Buddies boss:

• Robinson reveals he's bought a new suit for the occasion while the players "chose not to" in an effort to "treat it as a normal game".

• The St Mirren boss says the "special occasion happens afterwards if you manage to get a result" but this week the players "didn't want any fuss".

• The Buddies will "try and get it right" on Sunday and "embrace" the occasion.

• Robinson stresses his players "may never get this opportunity again", drawing on his own experience of only reaching one cup final as a player but "always thinking another one would come".

• The Northern Irishman stresses "I know what I want to do" on the pitch on Sunday and feels he's picked "nine out of the 11 players" but will be attending Celtic's game against Roma tonight to watch.

• Mark O'Hara has been training but the cup final "may be a game too soon" for the captain and Robinson says it would be "a huge call" to start.

• But Robinson "would love" the captain to be "100% fit" and "be involved in some way for the final".

• He's urging his players to have "faith over fear" and "really believe in what we can do," adding "we've earned the right to be here".

• He wants to make his players realise "they can be remembered forever".

• St Mirren haven't been practising spot-kicks but Robinson says in Shamal George they have a "very, very good goalkeeper who saves penalties" should it get to that stage on Sunday.

• Robinson admits he "is a dreamer" and "lives in a dream most of the time" but insists "you have to dream" because "these occasions come around rarely".

• Malik Dijksteel is a doubt for the final after picking up an injury in training.

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson has been studying Celtic counterpart Wilfried Nancy, who has just been appointed, before the pair will be in opposing dugouts for Sunday's Premier Sports Cup final. (Herald - subscription required), external

Read Thursday's Scottish gossip

Mark Jardine
Fan writer

What a difference a game makes.

Searching for a league victory since late September and frustrated at every turn, Stephen Robinson called on (and prepared) his side to do the ugly bit and get back to what has served them so well in recent years.

There have been better and tidier performances in Paisley and afar in this long winless run, but few as ruthless - and it showed.

For what feels like the first time since Ryan Strain's searching back-post cross met the boot of Scott Tanser on the volley at Fir Park more than a season ago, wing-backs combined to get the Buddies on the scoresheet.

Declan John stood an inviting ball high towards the far side of the away box, and Conor McMenamin rose to bury a header with the confidence level of someone not striving for their first goal of the season in early December.

Where Jim Goodwin's side did find openings, they were denied by Shamal George in a fine performance. On the back of a tough night for the goalkeeper at Pittodrie, amid the toughest of weeks personally, George demonstrated admirable strength which drew the praise of his manager and the watching crowd in equal measure.

And, because we know all too well that one goal is rarely enough, Keanu Baccus seized on a loose ball to fire home his first goal since returning to Scotland in the summer.

The 11 players that took the field on Saturday afternoon did not do so in perfect form nor in perfect circumstances, many recovering from injuries, deputising for first-choice colleagues or in search of their past form.

With a cup final now awaiting at end of week, the group must surely have felt the weight of putting in a performance, individually and collectively, as well as securing the three points needed to raise the mood in Paisley once again.

The Saints met this demand, then watched a reshuffled Celtic toil to defeat in a muddy, punishing Glasgow battle on Sunday. This, in a nutshell, is what Buddies hope for next weekend.

Mark Jardine can be found at Misery Hunters, external

Pro-Palestine demonstrators are to picket Hampden Park prior to the Premier Sports Cup final next Sunday between Celtic and St Mirren because of the recent sponsorship deal for the national stadium with banking giant Barclays. (The Herald), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish Gossip in full.

St Mirren's 2-0 win over Dundee United was "a perfect example" of what currently separates the two sides, according to former Aberdeen, Rangers and St Johnstone full-back Richard Foster.

The hosts' opener came from "poor defending at the back post" and the second came from a goalkeeping error.

"You don't really see that often from St Mirren," Foster told BBC Scotland's Sportscene.

He suggested centre-half Bert Esselink was at fault as St Mirren midfielder Conor McMenamin met a cross at the back post to head powerfully past goalkeeper Dave Richards.

"You are expecting your defender to at least challenge for the ball," Foster said.

The second came from what "should be a relatively simple save" from Richards, who has replaced Yevhen Kucherenko in goal after the Ukrainian's own recent errors.

At the other end, striker Zac Sapsford fired against Shamal George when through one-on-one with the goalkeeper then sent a powerful free-kick against the crossbar.

"That was the story of the game," Foster said. "When it's not your day, it's not your day.

"St Mirren took the chances that they created, albeit with help from the goalkeeping and defending, and Dundee United never."

Sportscene host Stephen Thompson added: "It's six without a win. They are finding it difficult to replicate that form they had last season and a lot of it is down to the defending. They look fragile. They are gifting goals to teams."

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

Goalkeeper Shamal George came up with a big save at a crucial time as St Mirren earned an important three points against Dundee United.

Both he and teammate Miguel Freckleton make my team of the week.

Freckleton delivered real quality at the back as St Mirren earned a clean sheet.

Watch highlights of St Mirren's 2-0 win against Dundee United in the Scottish Premiership.

We asked for your views on St Mirren's 2-0 win against Dundee United.

Here's what some of you said:

Neil: Delighted to get the clean sheet and three points. Credit to Stephen Robinson for the changes, I thought Miguel Freckleton had an outstanding game.

Michael: Well done on an excellent result. Robinson took the decision to shake things up and reaped the rewards. Moving Alex Gogic to strengthen and control the midfield was masterful and he played like a trojan. Those who came in did their cause no harm. Well done St Mirren, now can we replicate for the cup final? I do hope so.

Stuart: Getting the early goal helped settle us. Marcus Fraser looking useful. United tidy but poor upfront. As usual, referee easily conned. And does anybody get penalised for foul throws nowadays?

Frank: Saints managed a win at last. It was a tense game. We score, celebrate then we all look at scoreboard waiting for VAR take it away. Not a single peep from VAR at this game. Referee was good until Saints score first goal then seemed to favour United after that, it's hard to see sometimes from the stands but some of those calls caused shocks in the stand.

Tony: I still get nervous even when we are 2-0 ahead at half time - we always seem capable of making a mistake which costs us. But this result against United now gives us confidence for a good performance in the League Cup final next week - Celtic have been lucky against us so far.

Alan: That was what we needed before the final next week, a win and a clean sheet. Definitely deserved the win overall, first half we played quite well and although we got a bit nervy in the second half, the second goal helped us breath a bit easier. Go out next week enjoy the final and then the up and coming league games after that, there are definitely points we could win.