Oran Kearney building for the future at St Mirren after Scottish Premiership survival

The Ballymoney man has been strongly linked with a return to former club Coleraine, who are currently in the process of recruiting a new manager.

But Kearney's quotes after Sunday's penalty shoot-out play-off win over Dundee United seem to rule him out of a Showgrounds return once an for all.

“When the dust settles and we get time to take stock of it then the building work will begin," he said. "We’ve a lot of work to do pretty quickly.”

Keeping the Buddies up is another major achievement for Kearney

“I’ve won cups and I’ve won plenty as a player as well – but the journey we’ve gone on this year is incredible," he said

"I’ve come into a club where I didn’t know one person here. – I’ve had to build relationships with the playing staff and the backroom staff to try and make things function quickly.

“The big thing was to try and get to January intact and then restructure and hope we had enough games left to retrieve the situation.

"It required a bit of patience. It was always going to the wire.”

Kearney is looking forward to coming back to Northern Ireland to see his wife Lauren, and kids Luca and Ava again before enjoying the summer break.

He said: “I’m heading back home on Monday, I’m really looking forward to it, to seeing my kids.”

Oran Kearney breaks silence on Coleraine return