BRENDAN RODGERS will need to wait for now. Jack Ross will, eventually, find time to take up the offer of a trip to Celtic’s training ground for a chat with the manager but for now he has rather more pressing matters to attend to. Of primary concern is keeping St Mirren in the Championship over the coming weeks, but even that objective can be parked for the next few days. This weekend it is all about trying to defeat Dundee United to lift the Irn-Bru Cup and deliver silverware to the Paisley club.

Perhaps that achievement should come with a health warning. There is a theory that St Mirren have endured nothing back bad luck since winning the League Cup back in 2013 but in truth the malaise had begun long before that blip at Hampden. Relegation out of the top flight followed two years later while a similar fight to avoid dropping into the third tier has been underway since the start of this season. Ross appreciates it has not been the easiest of times to be a St Mirren supporter and hoped winning a trophy could go a long way to giving something back.

“In 2013 I don’t think many would have expected the club to be where it is now,” he admitted of a turbulent period that saw the club go through five managers before appointing Ross late last year.

“This is an opportunity to bring welcome respite to what’s happened over the last few years. We can try to use it as a springboard to go back up the way.

“I’ve never really wavered in my belief we’d turn it around and where the club can go if we survive.

The foundations are certainly there. There’s a freshness there and it would be a great catalyst to push forwards if we win.”

Losing a cup final is never easy as Ross knows from bitter experience. He was a part of the St Mirren team that inexplicably lost the 2010 League Cup final to nine-man Rangers.

“That cup final for me is probably one of my few regrets in football,” he admitted. It’s something I don’t think I’ll ever get over properly because of the stage of career it was for me. I knew it was probably my last chance to win a major competition.

“It was a sore one for me and one I’ve never quite managed to get over. Now in management I don’t really think about it. Saturday is me doing my job. If we win I’ll be ecstatic for the players because I know how hard they work and for the fans who have been tremendously loyal to the club over the last period.”

In the relative infancy of his managerial career, Ross has already made one powerful ally. As manager of Alloa earlier in the season and more recently with St Mirren, he has twice taken teams to Celtic Park and come away with great credit and it has not gone unnoticed.

“Because I’d been there earlier in the season with Alloa I had enjoyed conversations with Brendan then. He’s been really good to me personally and offered me an invite to come up to their training ground in the future to see first-hand how he works with his players. I’ve not had the opportunity to take him up on that yet but I definitely will. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the conversations I’ve had with him after games and I do think he’s been terrific for our game here.”