Northern Ireland's Stephen Robinson on cusp of ending St Mirren's 37-year wait for European football

Lisburn-born Stephen Robinson, who represented Northern Ireland on seven occasions and started his coaching career with the country’s underage teams before assisting Michael O’Neill, is on the brink of leading Scottish outfit St Mirren back into Europe for the first time since 1987.

Saturday’s 3-1 win away to Dundee leaves the Buddies sitting fifth – five points clear of this weekend’s opponents with three matches to go – which guarantees a spot in Europa Conference League qualifying.

The former Tottenham Hotspur, AFC Bournemouth and Luton Town midfielder has done a superb job with the Paisley outfit since taking over in February 2022, guiding them to back-to-back top-six Premiership finishes.

There are further local connections with St Mirren as Northern Ireland international – and ex-Irish League ace – Conor McMenamin made a 24th appearance of the season on Saturday alongside cousin Caolan Boyd-Munce, while former Cliftonville and Crusaders striker Diarmuid O'Carroll, who also works in Northern Ireland’s backroom staff, serves as Robinson’s assistant manager.

“That’s what you pay your money for, you pay your money to dream,” Robinson said of the supporters’ excitement about Europe. “It’s been 37 years since we were in Europe and 40-odd years since we were top six twice in a row.

“You have to enjoy these times, and why not? But my job is to stay grounded and keep the players grounded.

“We need to continue to play without pressure because nobody expected this from us bar the dressing room. We expected it and we expect to continue to win games towards the end of the season.

“I’m proud of the players and the staff. I’m not one that craves the limelight, so I want the players to get the credit and the plaudits.

“The expectation at St Mirren has risen incredibly over the two and a half years we’ve been here and it’s solely down to the players and the hard work of people behind the scenes to kick the club on.

“We’ve not achieved anything yet though. There’s nine points to play for and we’ll be doing everything in our power to try and catch Kilmarnock first and foremost.”