BY ALAN TEMPLE – @CCP_Sport
St Mirren debutant Rocco Quinn is adamant the Buddies will soon roar away from the foot of the Championship after lauding the young talent at the club.
The Paisley outfit succumbed to a 3-1 defeat against Hibs on Saturday – a third defeat in five matches for manager Alex Rae since taking charge – and remain just two points above the drop-zone.
While the class of the capital club always looked likely to tell at the weekend, the Saints had their moments of endeavour, usually through the excellent Stevie Mallan.
The waspish playmaker scored one super free-kick on the stroke of half-time, fired another inches over the bar and stung the palms of Hibee keeper Mark Oxley.
With the likes of Sean Kelly, Jack Baird, Cameron Howieson, Callum Gallacher, Barry Cuddihy and Jordan Stewart – all 22 or under – also featuring prominently this term, Quinn firmly believes St Mirren’s form will soon pick up.
The former Ross County man praised: “There’s no point us looking over our shoulders. The manager is really positive and that’s rubbing off on the players. We believe we can move up the table.
“Week by week we will get stronger and better, that will show in the performances.
“There’s real quality in the squad with some really good footballers. There are a lot of young boys with real potential. Stevie Mallan showed that against Hibs with his free kick.
“There’s a lot of talent in the time. It’s great working with them as you see their enthusiasm with all the tricks and flicks that they see on the telly!”
However, Quinn knows St Mirren must replicate of that training ground magic on the field when they host Alloa next Saturday in an old fashioned ‘six-pointer’.
He added: “Games against Hibs aren’t the games we will measure ourselves against for the rest of the season, not with the position we’re in.
“If we had got something from this game it would have been a bit of a bonus. We need to be beating the teams around about us in the table in the coming weeks.”
