McLeish: St Mirren must add firepower after goal shortage last season

St Mirren boss Craig McLeish has made it clear that adding goalscoring threat is his top priority this summer, with the Buddies actively pursuing two new strikers ahead of the new Scottish Premiership season.

McLeish guided St Mirren to safety via the play-offs last term after a difficult campaign in which the Paisley side managed just 30 goals in 38 league matches. The manager has now admitted that a lack of cutting edge, rather than overall quality, was the main reason behind their struggles.

“An issue for us last season was that we didn’t score enough goals,” McLeish said. “It wasn’t because we were a poor team. We just struggled to put the ball in the net. We scored less than a goal a game. That is the bit we need to improve, to be more threatening and to score more goals.”

Attacking options depleted

St Mirren’s attacking resources have been further stretched this summer, with striker Mikael Mandron having departed the club and Jonah Ayunga sidelined until the turn of the year. That has left McLeish with a clear gap to fill at the top end of the pitch as pre-season preparations continue.

“St Mirren in recent seasons, we have been defensively aggressive,” McLeish added. “We can’t lose that but the bit I need to build on is to bring more at the top end of the pitch.”

The Buddies have already been busy in the transfer market, bringing in goalkeeper Jacob Chapman from Huddersfield Town along with Chris Mochrie and Ryan Carr. However, McLeish says finding the right forwards within St Mirren’s budget is proving a more delicate task.

Budget constraints a factor

McLeish acknowledged that St Mirren cannot compete financially with some of their Premiership rivals when it comes to recruitment, pointing to Hearts as an example of the gulf in resources across the division.

“With our budget constraints there is a lot of work going on,” he said. “There are a lot of players we have spoken to. We need to take our time with it and make sure we can pick the right ones. Look at the Hearts squad. I think they have taken 30 players over to Spain with the budget they have to spend. We know we are not at that level. We have to be really selective on the targets we do pull the trigger on.”

He added: “We know we need to add to the top end of the pitch. We need to add a couple of forwards and those conversations are on-going. Hopefully, they can progress quite quickly.”

Miller helping drive recruitment

St Mirren have overhauled their recruitment set-up under McLeish, with Gavin Miller brought in from Motherwell to head up the department. The Buddies boss says having Miller alongside him during pre-season work in Spain has been valuable as they work through their list of targets.

“Gavin Miller was out with us,” McLeish said. “The number of conversations we are having. It is so good to have him with us, so we can spend time together. We are talking to players, agents and clubs all the time. There are lots happening and it is about pulling the trigger on the right ones. They need to be ones who can come in and improve our starting XI.”

McLeish also stressed the importance of protecting St Mirren’s emerging young talent rather than rushing them into first-team action prematurely. “We have a really good group of young players coming through,” he said. “We know we can’t just throw them in. We need to wait until the right time and protect their pathways as well.”

The St Mirren manager is also expected to make decisions on several trialists in the coming weeks as the club finalises its squad ahead of the new Scottish Premiership campaign.