Kwon in Celtic waiting game over plans for next season as Stephen Robinson reveals talks over St Mirren return

Kwon Hyeok-Kyu's St Mirren season is over but Buddies boss Stephen Robinson hopes Celtic will let him have the Korean ace back next term.

The Saints support have taken to the 23-year-old midfielder since his January arrival. But a torn hamstring means he will sit out the final four games as they look to nail down a long-awaited return to Europe. Robinson said: “Kwon’s out for the season. He has torn his hamstring. He’s still with us, he’s still having treatment with us. But Kwon is very unlikely to be involved before the end of the season. It was an injury during training. It’s the first hamstring injury we’ve had all season, which was a real disappointment.

“Is he an option for next season? Yeah, we’ve spoken with Celtic but it’s very early stages. Celtic will have to assess what they want from Kwon and how they see him fitting in. We won’t get a decision on that any time soon. We’ll just try to build a squad in the meantime. We’d love to have him back as he has been very good for us.

“But I’ve got a lot of irons in the fire and hopefully we’ll have a couple of things moving by early next week. We’d love to be in a position to wait. Kwon has been fantastic for us. We’ll stay in dialogue with Celtic, as we do with every team we loan players from.

“If that option is there next season then brilliant. If not there may well be other positions that are more of a priority for us. But he’s loved his time here. The only game I didn’t play him was Kilmarnock away. He has started all the other games when fit and available for me. Obviously he couldn’t play in the one against Celtic.”

St Mirren last qualified for Europe in 1987 after lifting the Scottish Cup but are on course to end that near four-decade wait as they head to Dundee today. Victory over their rivals for fifth spot would open up a five-point lead – leaving some fans to suggest the Dens Park clash is their biggest game since lifting the League Cup 11 years ago.

But Robinson, who will have his 100th game in charge, said: “It’s your job to build it up and it’s my job to play it down because I want the players to go in and relax. Ultimately, we’re not stupid. We know it’s a big game because they’re directly below us and a win would give us a little bit of distance – and a point would obviously keep that distance.

“There’s a lot to be gained in terms of winning the game and not getting anything from the next three. There are still 12 points to play for. There’s only three points in this game. That’s what I’ve told the players but we know the importance, 100 percent.

“It’s my job to make sure we’re focused on the here and now and not what it might achieve. We have to go and grind the result out, which we haven’t done in recent weeks. We’ve done very well, without getting any results. Saturday and the next three games will be about results rather than performances.”