IAN MURRAY has revealed Steven Thompson may not be the man entrusted to hit a penalty if St Mirren were to be awarded one today against Dumbarton.

The Saints legend had the chance to pull his team level from the spot at Ibrox in last week’s Ladbrokes Championship opener, but ballooned his effort over.

It then saw all of the Buddies momentum drift away from them before Rangers added a third to win the game 3-1.

The uncharacteristic miss from Thommo is something his manager Murray says hasn’t been discussed in the dressing room.

However, when asked if the 36-year-old would be the man entrusted with spot kick duties today at St Mirren Park, Murray was less than committed with his answer.

He said: “We’ve not discussed it. It depends on what team we pick and a lot of other factors, for example who is confident and thinks they can score a penalty.

“There will be three or four in our starting XI who fancy it but we need to get that shortlist down to make sure from now on that when we have a penalty we have someone on the pitch.

“We also need a first choice, second choice and third choice.

“Thommo is probably privately beating himself up about it but we’ve not mentioned it, there’s no need.

“Any penalty miss is a killer at times and the players have been great with him and he’s been great with us. There’s been no negative on it.

“We all know what happens if that goes in but people miss penalties. It’s just unfortunate it was an open game with an ex-Rangers player at Ibrox, that sort of stuff.

“If it’s 3-0 at the time nobody talks about it, so we need to get over that as quick as we can. It’s gone it’s done.”

It has been a busy week for Murray who drafted in former Aberdeen goalkeeper Jamie Langfield as a goalkeeper and coach ahead of this weekend’s tie with the Sons.

But it is surely coming up against the team he used to manage from The Rock that will be making the Saints boss eager to get their home league campaign off to a positive start.

“I’m used to being the part-time team playing against full-timers. The biggest thing at Dumbarton was we always felt we could go and win. If I was coming here as Dumbarton manager I’d fancy us.

“So they will be the same after deservedly beating a very good Hibs team. They are compact and organised, but we need to make sure we are not another scalp for them.

“There’s no doubt I think we are better quality than Dumbarton. That’s no disrespect and I think that will shine through at the end of the season. We need to make sure it shines on Saturday in our first home game.

“The anticipation and excitement of the Rangers game was fantastic but this is a game we need to go and win.”

Despite the loss on the opening day of the season at Ibrox, Murray has garnered many positives from their display.

And he believes that replicating the approach of Mark Warburton’s men could be the key to unlocking Dumbarton’s defence this afternoon.

He said: “The same tempo from us that we had in the Rangers game will be good enough. It’s as quick as I’ve seen in the Championship in the last two-and-half years.

“If we replicate that then we will win the game but that is the challenge for the guys.

"It’s easy being up for it at Ibrox, now we have to flip it round and use Rangers as an example and do the same against Dumbarton.”