CALUM GALLAGHER hopes St Mirren’s young stars can repay boss Ian Murray and turn their faltering campaign around sooner rather than later.

The Buddies lost 4-0 to Rangers in the Petrofac Training Cup semi-final on Saturday as they made it six games without a win on Murray’s watch.

It has been a poor start to the season for the Saints, who find themselves seventh in the Championship standings and already eleven points adrift of a play-off position.

Gallagher’s Ibrox return was to prove another disappointing afternoon for the forward but he is confident St Mirren can get back on track and start earning results to ease the pressure on their under-fire manager.

He said: “I think at the start of any season it can take time. It was always going to be a transitional season for St Mirren.

“The team’s gone down and there’s a lot of stuff in the background also the players haven’t been exposed to, like finances. That’s meant a need to turn to a lot of younger, not quite so experienced players.

“They’ve had to step up and it was always going to take time for the team to gel and the young players to develop into men on the park.

“I think a lot of the younger players are giving a good account of themselves most weeks.

“But if you ask any kind of experienced manager, or anyone who has watched a lot of football, they will tell you consistency can be an issue with younger players.

“And when you are relying on them a lot it can be tough. You need a bit of patience.

“I think it says a lot for the manager that he does have that belief in the young boys. You can see in training that he confidence in them, that he wants to give them the chance to play. I appreciate that.

“It’s a really commendable thing for the manager. Yes it would be easier for him to just focus on using more experienced players.

“The younger boys in the dressing room, myself included, have got a lot to thank the manager for.

“He’s shown a lot of faith in us. He sees something in the young boys – and that’s credit to him.”

After falling behind to a well taken effort from Jason Holt after 33 minutes, it looked as though it was going to be a long afternoon for St Mirren as Rangers dominated proceedings at Ibrox.

The visitors almost got themselves back into the match after the break, though, Stuart Carswell hitting the bar from 18 yards as Mark Warburton’s side were unable to turn their possession into goals.

Late strikes from Kenny Miller and Martyn Waghorn and a last minute own goal from Sean Kelly, the defender unfortunate to turn a Dean Shiels cross beyond Jamie Langfield, condemned Murray’s men to another defeat.

But Gallagher has plenty of belief the Buddies can reverse their form and get their season back on the right track.

He said: “I wouldn’t say confidence is a problem at the moment. Sometimes, though, it’s difficult when you’re out of a habit of winning.

“Other teams have got that habit. We’ve just not been getting the results.

“It’s not that we haven’t been playing well. I look at a lot of our results and feel we haven’t got what we deserved. I think we’ve been tremendously unlucky with a lot of our results.

“We’re not overly worried about it at this stage. We feel there’s enough talent in the squad to get us up the league.

“We’re also very confident in the backroom staff. We’re a tight unit, we play for each other and it’s a good dressing room to be in.”