St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson resigned to barren January transfer window

The Buddies are currently seventh in the cinch Premiership, just four points behind third-place Aberdeen in the race for European places.

Northern IUrel

Former Northern Ireland international Robinson, whose side return to action after the World Cup break three weeks on Saturday, does not anticipate an influx of new faces when the transfer window opens in a month’s time.

“I think we won’t be able to strengthen,” he said as he faced the media on Wednesday. “The financial constraints at the club probably dictate that at this moment in time.

“We’ve got a couple of more experienced boys who might not have had the game time they wanted, so we may have to look at that to balance the books.

“But we’ve got a good squad, we’re happy with the squad. Unless things change or a lot of people leave the club, we’ll probably remain as we are, which we’re happy with.

“It’s a small squad so we’ll need a little bit of luck along the way with injuries, but we’ve done okay with injuries so far. I believe we’ve got a strong squad going forward anyway.”

Saints enjoyed a promising opening to the campaign and Robinson is braced for the possibility of interest in some of his players, including Keanu Baccus who is currently at the World Cup with Australia.

“As a club like St Mirren, you’re always open to clubs looking at your so-called better players,” he said. “You’re always at the mercy of teams with more money.

“We’ve got some very good players. We only changed 30 per cent of the squad in the summer and all the boys we’ve brought in have attracted attention. We’ve got a boy at the World Cup who is doing everyone proud, so our recruitment has been good.

“We need to do more of that, but it probably won’t be in the January window, it will be more towards the summer. Other clubs will strengthen, but we believe we’ve put a good squad together and hopefully I can keep that whole squad together.”