ST MIRREN will not be simply looking to survive in the Premiership next season according to manager Jack Ross, who has higher ambitions for the Championship title winners.

While not quite ready to set his sights as high as chief executive Tony Fitzpatrick, who is looking for a top four finish, Ross says he will learn from the success of his side’s promotion campaign.

The Buddies boss set his players the target of winning the league during pre-season last year, and he is confident he can again encourage his men to reach heights that those on the outside of the club may scoff at.

“We’ll set realistic ambitions,” Ross said. “Surviving in the league for me is realistic but it’s not ambitious.

“We did that this year, we set the target to win the league. People from outside might say I think St Mirren will do okay but they won’t win the league, some might have tipped us, but most would have tipped other teams.

“So, for us it’s about finding that balance. If you set players an unrealistic target they won’t buy into it, but if you set a big one but they think we can get there then it works.

“It’s a very different challenge for me next year, it’s not just building a squad. The perception of success will be different because this year it was dead easy, winning the league was the obvious one.

“Once we get into pre-season, we’ll do it early. We did it in the first week of pre-season, the message was about winning the league.

“The chairman has already said he wants to finish in the top-six and Tony’s said top-four.

“There’s loads of clubs that have come up and done well. I spoke to Derek McInnes and when he took St Johnstone up they finished in the top-six in their first season.”

Ross concedes that his squad will require some strengthening if they are to do more than simply tread water after making the step up the divisions, but he is confident that the club has everything in place to attract a high calibre of player.

“James and I built a squad to win the Championship, now we’ve got to build a squad we feel can be progressive in the Premiership,” he said. “It’s not just a squad to stay in the league, it’s one that can be progressive and that requires different types in different areas.

“That’s part of the challenge to get that right. It doesn’t matter how good the coach and manager is as it’s your players that make you ultimately.

“I’m at a club that have got things that are attractive about it. We’ve got a good infrastructure in terms of the stadium and the training ground.”

The St Mirren boss was taken aback to receive the PFA Scotland manager of the year award on Sunday, particularly with the standard of boss in the dugouts throughout Scotland these days.

He said: “I didn’t think for one second I would receive the award, when you see the calibre of the guys who were nominated, the seasons they’ve had and I’m operating at a level below, I was very surprised but delighted.

“I voted for Brendan Rodgers. The cup final is a difficult game for them but if he achieves that then it’s unprecedented in terms of Scottish football.”