ST MIRREN manager Jack Ross reckons the Buddies have become a victim of their own success after copping flak from some disgruntled fans in their last outing.

Table-topping Saints recorded a 1-0 win over Brechin City – dominating the first half against the part-timers, who have yet to win a game all season in the Championship.

While it wasn’t a pretty performance, Ross’s team managed to get over the line, after defending for large parts towards the end of the game.

There were, however, some boos from the crowd in the second half. And Ross believes the modern fan is more critical than they were back when he and assistant manager James Fowler were players – but it’s one of the added elements of pressure his St Mirren stars will need to deal with as they aim to seal promotion.

He said: “There is so much comment on the game in general and it is so instant, but that is because the way that people give their opinion has changed.

“It is now instantaneous and people are now able to give their emotive reaction in a place that people can see it much more quickly than they used to.

“That is a challenge that James and I never had to deal with as a player and that is a challenge for them now but it is our responsibility to maintain that belief and trust in what they do.

“You don’t have the three quarters that they have had this year, allied to the second half of last season, without being good players.”

St Mirren's victory over Brechin, which kept second-placed Livingston eight points behind them, was their fifth clean sheet in a row at home.

Ross hopes his side can maintain their forward momentum against Dunfermline on Saturday, as they target promotion to the Premiership.

He added: “What the players have achieved consistently this season has been really good and they have topped the league after every quarter. This is the most important one coming up.

“I’ve never believed there has only been one team that could challenge us because this league is so challenging and difficult to predict at times.

“What I do know is that we have got ourselves in a position that, if we can replicate our form from the first three quarters, then we will be at a points total that will be difficult to get to – not impossible, but difficult.

“Our consistency over the three quarters has been really good. The one thing that I have had to remind the players over this week is that they are a good side.

“We lost a game a few weeks ago, which was our first since December, and then we won a game only 1-0, which to some people was a problem – which is incredible.

“There are other teams in the league that have rightly received plaudits but I have reminded the players that, over the last 10 games, we have taken more points than anyone else in the league.

“Sometimes they need reminded of that. When you have been at the top for quite a while, expectations change very quickly.

“You can be so short term that you can forget what you have done over a longer period of time but that it is our job to remind them of that.

“They don’t need to do anything differently, they just need to keep doing what they have been doing.”