When Stephen McGinn arrived back at St Mirren last month after a seven-year absence, it is stating the obvious to say that the landscape around the club had changed. And not for the better.

But it wasn’t only that the Buddies had dropped down to the Championship, or that they were struggling to even stay in it, that was the main concern for the midfielder.

His main worry was that not winning football matches had become a habit for the St Mirren players, even an expectation, and it was screaming out from the body language of his new teammates.

In his full debut away to Dumbarton, the Saints twice led in a crucial relegation tussle that they would go on to draw. It was the reaction afterwards though that alarmed him more than the concession of a late equaliser in itself.

But after a stirring Scottish Cup victory at East Fife last weekend, McGinn feels that a little bit of belief is creeping back into the squad, and he is hoping that tomorrow’s Irn-Bru cup clash against The New Saints allows them to build on that winning feeling again.

"After the Dumbarton game, I could feel that there was a bit of resignation in the dressing-room afterwards,” McGinn said. “It was almost like the players were used to it.

"Against East Fife, we went behind but we came back and that was massive. To be in the habit of not winning games is never nice so it was great to go through.

"The manager has signed some good players in January and hopefully we can push on now.

"The cup games have been good in helping us gel together as a team as we have a lot of new players.

"It's a positive to have the cup games and get the new guys used to playing with each other.

"In the league, every point is a prisoner, so it's been good to play with a bit of pressure off.

"The Scottish Cup win at East Fife was massive for us and I'm sure this semi-final will make the boys even sharper.”

McGinn is candid enough to admit that he knows very little of St Mirren’s opponents tomorrow, but with national pride at stake, it is a challenge he is not taking lightly.

"Playing a Welsh team adds a bit of freshness to the cup,” he said. “We don't really know what to expect from The New Saints.

"They beat Livingston and that was noticed by everyone but we are still stepping into the unknown.

"In the league, you know what is a good result and what's a bad result, but the manager will have us well-prepared.

"It's a big game for us. It's a Scottish tournament and you don't want a Welsh team winning it.

"It will be tough and there is always a danger that they are in the habit of winning games and we aren’t. We are treating it as a massive game, we want to get to the final.

"When I signed, I spoke to the manager about the games we had coming up. We are going to Celtic Park in the quarter-final of the Scottish Cup and it we can get to this final, and stay up, you'd actually look back at it being a half-decent season.”

Part of the motivation driving the players in black and white will be a desire to repay their supporters with a day out at a big cup final for their unwavering backing.

"We want to get to the final and, no disrespect to Queen of the South, but we could play Dundee United and that would be a big game,” he said.

"You could play the final at Tynecastle or somewhere and it would probably sell out.

"We also want to give the fans something back. They have stuck with us and it would be good to give them a day out at a cup final.”