Conor McMenamin feels that top six again for St Mirren has to be the club’s aim after a spectacular return from injury.
The Northern Irishman has returned to the fold following knee surgery in the summer which left him sidelined for the club’s UEFA Conference League campaign.
The winger made his comeback as a substitute against Rangers. Since then, the 29-year-old featured off the bench against St Johnstone and Ross County before making an impact from the start against Hibernian at Easter Road.
His two goals were enough to see Stephen Robinson’s side over the line in what was a nervy finish and now he is rallying his team-mates to make it a hat-trick of top-half Premiership finishes.
“The gaffer and ourselves have set high standards at this club,” he said. “We’ve got top six the last two years and that has to be the aim again. Everything we do now we try and get better.
“I didn’t get to play in the European games this year, but I want to be playing in them next year. We need to get back there and hopefully in the next few weeks we can build on those performances.”
And with talks of a contract extension on the cards, McMenamin says he isn’t letting that distract him from playing.
He added: “I’m just really focusing on doing well here and getting back and obviously playing games. I really like it here. I’m concentrating on getting fit at the minute and if [the extension] comes then I’m happy here.”
McMenamin now has set himself a target of getting back into the Northern Ireland set-up alongside fellow Buddies Caolan Boyd-Munce who was named in the squad for the games with Belarus and Luxembourg in the Nations League.
And after having a few catch-ups with the national team boss Michael O’Neill about his progress, he feels that his country is on the verge of something special.
He said: “Michael has checked in on me a few times and spoken to the gaffer to see how I am getting on.
“I’ve checked in with him mostly, but obviously the docs and the physios have been keeping tabs on me more than Michael to see how my progress is. They’ve all been good to me.
“When we go away we hear the likes of Steven Davis, who is now on the coaching staff, and other boys who have been to the Euros before.
“They’re telling us all their stories. Now we want to create our own history and it would be brilliant to be there. Hopefully we can. We have a really good squad. The boys are playing at a top level. The results within the last year have been really positive and obviously I want to be part of that.”
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