Stephen Robinson excited by St Mirren's room for growth as bunch of Buddies stars can hit next level

Stephen Robinson believes St Mirren can make another big impact next season because his brilliant Buddies have so much room for growth.

The Paisley gaffer welcomes his top-six European heroes back to Ralston for the beginning of pre-season training later this month.

Saints starred last term as they finished fifth in the Premiership which clinched a UEFA Conference League spot.

Outsiders may think the club has hit its high water-mark – but Robbo feels his team still has the capability of making further improvements.

A number of players – namely Elvis Bwomono, Richard Taylor, Caolan Boyd-Munce, James Scott, Lewis Jamieson, Jonah Ayunga and Toyosi Olusanya – still have plenty of potential to be realised.

And boss Robinson reckons this group playing their best football combined with the experienced stars shining will make for a lethal combination when the first ball of next term is kicked in anger.

“Everybody that comes here takes six months to adjust to the training,” the manager said. “Training is hard and training is intense. They all think they’ve trained hard until they come here, I believe.

“It does take a little bit of time for them to understand what we want. The players that have been mentioned – Caolan will get better, Elvis will get better.

“Jonah has had a lot of injury problems this season but has another pre-season coming up. Toyosi’s really only coming into his second full season as a professional footballer.

“Lewis broke into the first team, made a lot of good appearances for us and had an impact. James was very low on confidence when we got him and it is now up to me to get that ability out of him. There are a lot of boys who I believe will continue to get better and better.

“There’s a lot of scope for improvement within the squad and that makes it really important to sign seasoned pros like Shaun Rooney, Alex Gogic, Marcus Fraser and Greg Kiltie that provide that base and bind everything together.”

Meanwhile, the Buddies have confirmed their summer schedule as they prepare for their long-awaited Euro opener. Robinson’s players — including new signings Ellery Balcombe and Shaun Rooney — return to pre-season training at Ralston on Monday, June 24.

There will then be a week-long Spanish training camp at the Pinatar Arena in Murcia where the squad spent part of the Premiership winter break in January.

Four warm-up matches have been arranged when the team return to the UK ahead of the UEFA Conference League second qualifying round ties which are expected to take place on Thursday, July 25 and Thursday, August 1.

Saints open with a trip to Fife on Saturday, July 6 as they take on James McPake’s Dunfermline Athletic at East End Park (kick-off 3pm).

A Renfrewshire Derby awaits on Tuesday, July 9 when the Buddies head along the M8 to Greenock to face old foes Morton with the Communities Cup up for grabs (kick-off 7.45pm).

Two matches against English opposition have been scheduled with Sky Bet League Two side Fleetwood Town — bossed by former Saints favourite Charlie Adam — visiting the SMiSA Stadium on Saturday, July 13 (kick-off 3pm).

On Friday, July 19, another League Two outfit, Carlisle United, will visit Paisley (kick-off 7.45pm) with all eyes then on Saints’ first competitive European match since 1987.

Don't miss the latest Renfrewshire headlines – sign up to our free daily newsletter here