Buddie Banter: International break can help St Mirren recharge ahead of final top six push

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Sometimes a wee break can do you the world of good.I was very fortunate to get some time off last week and spent most of it down with my family and friends in Cheltenham.The trip also happened to coincide with Gold Cup week, and I was lucky enough to be in the thick of it at a gloriously sunny Cheltenham Racecourse at 3.30pm when the main event kicked off last Friday.Of course, the two horses I backed were nowhere near first when the pack came hurtling up towards the finish post.Such is my knowledge of horse racing, you’d be much better off avoiding betting on the ones I plumped for.Nevertheless, with a (much) lighter wallet and a slightly more pickled liver it was still great to be able to put the out of office on and switch off from the world of work for a few days.

After the painful end to last Saturday’s clash with Dundee United, some of the St Mirren players were probably wishing they were on holiday already.

And some Saints fans would likely argue some of them looked like they’d already checked out and had their feet up in the departure lounge ahead of the summer.The race for the top six this year looks tighter than it’s ever been, with so many clubs jostling for position heading into the last straight.Luckily for the Buddies, most of their nearest top rivals also suffered defeat last weekend.That means that while they didn’t enhance their own position, crucially not much ground was actually lost.What is clear is that manager Stephen Robinson needs to whip his side into shape quickly to have any chance of keeping up with the chasing pack.Despite racing ahead last Saturday thanks to Jay Henderson’s early strike, another beauty to add to his collection, the Buddies fell at the last when Marc McNulty netted deep into