Ian Murray has revealed Gary Teale was the first man to call and congratulate him on his appointment as the new St Mirren manager.

But the former Dumbarton gaffer says he will have to sit down with the man who has been acting as the Buddies' interim boss and discuss whether he still has a future with the Paisley club.

Teale has led the club since Tommy Craig's sacking back in December, but failed to prevent Saints sliding out of the SPFL Premiership.

However, the former Scotland winger hoped three wins in his last four games would be enough to save his job prospects.

Despite being one of five candidates interviewed by chairman Stewart Gilmour and his board, Teale was overlooked as they decided to hand ex-Hibs and Rangers defender Murray a two-year deal.

But with 12 months still remaining on the player/coach contract Teale signed last summer, St Mirren now face an awkward decision on whether to keep the 36-year-old on the payroll.

Murray - who will let Teale and his assistant David Longwell take the team as the club waves goodbye to the top flight with a trip to Hamilton on Saturday - said: "It's something we need to speak about. Gary called me today to congratulate me - in fact, he was the first person to call me.

"It was great of him. That's the type of guy he is. That's the way it should be dealt with, with maturity. It's football - he's not a stupid guy, he understands what happens so for him to call me was nice.

"I need to give the respect to Gary and David, who have done a sterling job over the last few months trying to help St Mirren.

"Gary has been a good servant to the club and it would be disrespectful not to have a good chat with him and we will probably do that on Sunday or Monday.

"If Gary feels comfortable and we feel he can benefit the team then great. If he doesn't feel comfortable then we will have to respect that, too."

Chairman Gilmour also interviewed ex-Ross County boss Derek Adams, former Notts County manager Ian McPartland and current Brechin boss Ray McKinnon for the post.

But he believes Murray, 34, is the man to lead Saints back to the Premiership after he guided the part-time Sons to a fifth place Championship finish last term before finishing seventh this season in a league involving Rangers, Hearts and Hibs.

He said: "Ian has done exceptionally well with Dumbarton. It's always difficult when you are a part-time club and only have the players a couple of nights a week.

"We seem him as a young, ambitious manager who wants to get himself on to a higher platform."

"He impressed us with his ideas and plans for where he wants to take the club.

"The situation with Gary is that he still has a year's contract and we will have to address that next week. Ian will decide who his management team are.

"We had some super candidates, but decided the best way forward was to bring in Ian. It was a very, very difficult decision not to chose Gary.

"He and David have done a fantastic job and there is no doubt in my mind that Gary will be a superb manager in days to come."

With 16 players out of contract - including skipper Steven Thompson and highly-rated midfielder John McGinn - Murray will have to assess his squad swiftly before making plans for next season.