BY DARREN JOHNSTONE @CCP_Sport
St Mirren manager Ian Murray admits he is desperate to create more happy memories at Dumbarton – but this time from the opposition dugout.
Murray is under pressure to get the Buddies’ season up and running with Saints struggling at the wrong end of the Championship table having picked up only two victories in 15 league outings.
Winning was not a problem for Murray during his two-and-a-half year reign at the Rock as he took the Sons from relegation fodder to play-offs hopefuls before he left for Paisley during the summer.
But Murray hopes his return to familiar surroundings can trigger an upturn in fortunes for St Mirren.
He said: “I have good memories of Dumbarton, we did well. They helped me and I helped them so it’s fantastic that they’re doing so well again.
“It’s great to see them doing that but hopefully we’re the team on Saturday that gets the three points.
“Hopefully we can get back to winning ways, it’s a chance for us to win three points.
“It will be a tough game though. First and foremost Dumbarton are a good side and they’ve been like that for the last three or four years since they got promoted. It’s a really difficult place to go.
“We need to try and get ourselves together, there’s a wee opportunity now in the next four, five weeks over Christmas to really set our stall up and get the wins. If we do that we’re right back into it but equally if we don’t it’s going to be really difficult.”
Murray admits he would not be surprised if the home fans do not give him a warm welcome on his first return to Dumbarton.
He said: “I think you’re always going to get stick regardless of how well you do, or how badly you do.
“It’s one of these things, you get on with it – it’s football.
“It’s part of the job and the game. It’s a not a huge problem or factor for me.
“I think the majority of the fans would understand and probably agree that we did do a good job and punched above our weight a little bit in terms of how well we’ve done, it worked well for both parties.”
