IT is a record that has proudly stood for 17 years – and St Mirren are determined to keep on counting.

That was the message from Buddies midfielder Stuart Carswell who is desperate to maintain his side’s impressive unbeaten record over rivals Morton this afternoon.

You have to go all the way back to April 10, 1999 for the last time the team from Greenock came out on top in a competitive Renfrewshire derby, a 5-1 win coming at the old Love Street.

Since then, any time the two teams’ paths have crossed Ton have been unable to come out on top including three meetings in this term’s Championship.

Now the last meeting of the pair this campaign is upon us at the Paisley 2021 Stadium, Carswell is not prepared to let their standards slip at this late stage.

“You can tell with the fans and the build up to the game on Twitter what it means, everyone appreciates that.

“We want to go out and win it. We’ve got a bit of a record over them as they’ve not beaten us in so many years, we’re definitely going out to win.

“The guys in the dressing room don’t want to be the ones responsible for that running ending. When we beat them 1-0 down there earlier in the season you saw just what it meant and how much the fans loved it.

“We are looking forward to it.”

Coming through the youth ranks at Motherwell, Carswell is no stranger to a local derby.

Wearing claret and amber, the central midfielder regularly went up against Hamilton Accies, a side that until recently held the bragging rights over their Lanarkshire rivals.

“It doesn’t matter what level the derby is at,” he explained. “Whether it is boys club or at this level, you always want to win it.

“It’s come to the end of the season and really neither team has much to play for. But I can guarantee you one thing, it’ll be feisty.”

Carswell arrived in Paisley during the summer keen to get more first-team football after a frustrating spell at Fir Park under Ian Baraclough.

Despite picking up an injury, the 22-year-old has still managed to play 22 games in black and white, including five out of the Buddies’ last six games.

Initially signed on a one-year deal, Carswell has the potential of a second to stay beyond the summer, and said: “I’ve still to speak to the manager and my agent so I’m not too sure.

“With me being injured it was a bit of a pain. I was stuck in the gym and couldn’t do anything, and I was just desperate to get back out there and play.

“I’m open for discussions but you never with football, it’s a strange game. You can be so high one week then so low the next. For us the one thing we know is that we can win this game.”