ST MIRREN boss Gus MacPherson is hoping new signing Franco Miranda can hand his side a boost after starting the campaign with two defeats.

ST MIRREN boss Gus MacPherson is hoping new signing Franco Miranda can hand his side a boost after starting the campaign with two defeats.

The Love Street gaffer has signed the left-sided Argentine wing-back after receiving international clearance to complete the deal.

MacPherson refused to throw Miranda in at the deep end by handing him a baptism of fire against Rangers at Ibrox, but admitted after the 2-0 defeat that he now comes into contention for next weekend at home to Inverness.

He said: "We didn't get clearance until late on Friday, by which time we were well into our preparations for Rangers.

"But it's good to have him on board now and he'll play for our reserves tomorrow night. Obviously we'll see how he comes through that before deciding about the weekend, but he is certainly in our plans.

"Franco has impressed us and it's another option so we're hoping he can prove to be a good signing."

MacPherson insists there were plenty of positives for him to take from the way his side performed at Ibrox.

He said: "Our passing in the first half was excellent. We were comfortable on the ball and I thought Rangers found it difficult to get the ball at times so the players have to take credit for that.

"After playing so well, you want to keep things tight for the first 15 minutes of the second half and start thinking about the last half-hour when you expect the crowd to get a little frustrated.

"Unfortunately, we conceded quite early and Rangers got a lift from that and played a lot better.

But we were positive and I think we can take a lot of heart from some aspects of our performance."

With no points yet to show for their efforts, MacPherson added: "It's early days, but it goes without saying we'd like to get off and running as quickly as possible, but I'm sure the results will come."