Marcus Fraser adamant St Mirren will meet the moment in massive month

St Mirren's Marcus Fraser tangling with Celtic's Arne Engels
-Credit:SNS Group


Marcus Fraser has backed his St Mirren Buddies to meet the challenge of a massive month.

The Paisley side’s busy festive programme generated a return of one win and three defeats although they retained their spot in the top six of the Premiership.

While normality has returned to the fixtures calendar, big games are on the horizon as Saints gear up to fight on two fronts.

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In-form Dundee United visit the SMiSA Stadium on Saturday with a trip to League One Queen of the South in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup on January 18.

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It’s then a journey to the north-east to face Aberdeen on January 25 before St Johnstone come calling on February 1.

Saints are eyeing a hat-trick of top-six finishes but, with only four points covering the sides sitting sixth to 11th, Fraser recognises they won’t be alone when it comes to realising ambitions.

“It’s there for every team to go and grab,” the defender said. “We need to see what is realistic for us and take that opportunity.

“We don’t want to let this position go lightly but we know how hard it is. Everybody is beating everybody else which makes it really competitive.

“We need to brush up on individual errors and we’re honest enough to take that on the chin. We know ourselves that, in this league, if a couple of teams put runs together it makes it so condensed.

“It’s going to be a massive month coming up so we need to dust ourselves down, look at what we have done here and try and get back to winning ways.”

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Saints’ losing run continued on Sunday after they were beaten 3-0 by reigning champions Celtic in Glasgow’s east end.

“In that first half-an-hour we felt we were pressing them in the right areas and you could feel that in the stadium,” Fraser, 30, reflected.

“The times where we have conceded the goals are hard to take and going in 2-0 down at half-time means there is a bit of a mountain to climb. We could have done better.

“These things happen. What’s always worked well for me in the past is to get back on the training pitch and work even harder. I think this group of boys will be keen to do that and we will be in on Tuesday to work towards the Dundee United game.”

The opening of the transfer window has already brought new signings for Saints with keeper Zach Hemming and striker Owen Oseni checking in. Fraser knows new recruits will help to drive and maintain standards in the dressing room.

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“I think it’s good,” he added. “Everyone knows that, when it comes to St Mirren, it’s all about trying to improve. If you can gain those wee percentages whether it is on the park or off the park, then it’s going to bring success to the club.

“If we get the right bodies in, we can push on. New faces create competition for places. That’s what you want in your team. You don’t want to know the starting XI.

“You need to be looking over your shoulder knowing there is a good player to take your place. I think we have that in the squad and, if the manager can add to that, it will be even better.”

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